Quinarius 28 BC

1 quinarius, silver

AR quinarius, Octavian, Rome, c. 28 BCE, RIC 276

CAESAR IMP VII, Bare head right | ASIA RECEPTA, Victory standing left on cista mystica, holding wreath left and palm over shoulder. All flanked by two snakes.

Cista (or cista mystica) is a basket used for housing sacred snakes in connection with the initiation ceremony into the cult of Bacchus (Dionysus). In the Dionysian mysteries a serpent, representing the god, was carried in a box called a cista on a bed of vine leaves.