Cista

The form and material of the voters' cista, evidently of wicker or similar work, is represented in an annexed cut from a coin of the Cassia gens.

Another class of cistae, well known from vase paintings and from a number of preserved metal specimens, are the toilet- or jewel-cases of Italian ladies, often mentioned in connection with children's trinkets, and often recognized in ancient comedies.

In Roman times, Plutarch gives an account of the pouring of drinking water into a golden casket inside the cista, while the congregation shouts “Osiris has been found.” In ancient Greek mystery cults, the cistra mystica were wicker-work boxes which seem to have contained a live serpent, as represented in numerous ancient images, including coins on which a cista is shown half-open with a serpent creeping out of it.

These cistra were sometimes oblong, but more frequently cylindrical, for example, as represented in a statue of Silenus sitting on a large drum-shaped cista, holding a wine-jug in his hand.

Cistra mystica were also carried in procession in the Greek festivals of Demeter and Dionysus—these boxes were always kept closed in public, and contained sacred items connected with the worship of these deities.