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If you have trouble reading the title, it’s not surprising—the words have been written in a secret code!

Secret codes are not a new invention. In the book of Jeremiah in the Bible, Sheshach is used as a code word for the city of Babylon. The historical figure Histiaeus, a tyrant who lived before Christ, used a type of code wherein he shaved the head of a slave and tattooed a message on his scalp. When the slave’s hair grew back, he was sent to Aristagoras, who reshaved the slave’s head and read the message.

Coded messages have changed the course of history. Julius Caesar and the Emperor Augustus made good use of them. However, problems with codes led to the defeat of Napoleon at the battle of Leipzig. And King Charles I and Mary, Queen of Scots were driven from their thrones because their “secret” messages were deciphered by their enemies.

During the American Revolution both the colonists and the British used codes. And in 1941 the United States broke the Japanese code and used the information throughout World War II.

The ancient Greeks of Sparta used a scytale, or wooden baton, to code their messages. A leather strip was wound in a spiral around the baton, and a message was then written along the wrapped strip. When the strip was removed, the message resembled a jumbled group of letters and half-letters. The person who received the message wound the strip around another scytale, and the message became visible.

You can use the Spartan code by cutting typewriter paper, instead of a leather strip, into 1/2″ (1.25 cm) strips. Pencils or sticks of the same diameter can be used as scytales.

During the 1600s, Cardinal Richelieu used a coding device with punched holes, called a grille. It was placed over a sheet of paper, and the secret message was written through the holes. When the grille was removed, additional letters were inserted in the spaces between the coded words to hide the message. To anyone reading the entire letter, the coded message combined with the added letters appeared to be an ordinary communication between two people. But when the receiver of the message placed an identical grille over the letter, only the secret message would be seen through the holes.