AP9.237 (Eryc.); cf. σκύταλον:— Special usages: 1. at Sparta,
staff
or
baton
, used as a cypher for writing dispatches, a strip of leather being rolled slantwise round it, on which the dispatches were written lengthwise, so that when unrolled they were unintelligible: commanders abroad had a staff of like thickness, round which they rolled these strips, and so were able to read the dispatches:— hence σκυτάλη came to mean
, as Pi. calls the bearer of his ode σκυτάλα ΜοισᾶνO.6.91, where the Sch. quotes ἀχνυμένη σκυτάλη (dub. sens.) from Archil. (Fr.89.2); ἡ σκυτάλης περιτροπή, of labour in vain (cf. ὕπεροσ), Pl.Tht.209d. 2.
pole
or
staff
, like those of a sedan-chair, LXXEx.30.4. 3.
strickle for levelling grain
piled up in a measure, ς. δικαίαPTeb.823.15, PAmh.2.43.10 (both ii B.C.), cf. Poll.4.170. 4.
wooden tally
or
ticket
on a money-bag, etc., Diosc.Hist.4, D.S.13.106. 5.