The use of steganography as a form of encoding was once told by Herodotus when he recounted Histiaeus' efforts to influence political conditions in Miletus, Ancient Greece. At that time, Histiaeus felt uncomfortable living in exile in Susa, Persia. He wanted to return to Miletus by provoking upheaval in Ionia. In order to smooth this plan, Histiaeus shaved a servant's hair and wrote a secret message on his scalp. The maid was then ordered to travel from Susa to Miletus after her hair grew back covering the secret message tattoo.
