Lewis & Short

‡ 2. scŭtŭla (in a Greek orthog. scy-tăla or scytălē; v. II. and III.), ae, f., = σκυτάλη (a staff, stick).

  1. I. A wooden roller or cylinder: quattuor biremes, subjectis scutulis, impulsas vectibus in interiorem partem transduxit, Caes. B. C. 3, 40, 4.
  2. II. A secret writing, secret letter among the Lacedaemonians (it being written on a slip of papyrus wrapped round a σκυτάλη; pure Lat. clava): scytala, Nep. Paus. 3, 4: scytale, Aus. Ep. 23, 23; cf. Gell. 17, 9, 15 (written as Greek, Cic. Att. 10, 10, 3, habes σκυτάλην Λακωνικήν).
  3. III. A cylindrical snake (of equal thickness throughout), Plin. 82, 5, 19, § 53; Luc. 9, 717; Sol. 27, § 30; cf. Col. 6, 17. 1.