Welcome to ‘Cyber Security in the Ancient World’. When thinking of communication security, we often think of computer systems, banks, and secret services, like the FBI and CIA. Yet, the Greeks and Romans knew everything about hiding secrets and securing confidential information. In this series of ten videos, we will discuss ten examples of secret communication in the Greco-Roman world from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
Ancient governments, like modern ones, realized that to keep their borders safe, control their populations and keep abreast of political developments abroad, they needed the means to collect the intelligence which enabled them to make informed decisions.
This article relates to episode 3 in the series ‘Cyber Security in the Ancient World’. Since there will be two videos on Herodotus - this being the second one - this will focus on the four examples of secret communication that Herodotus discussed.
