Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Sitella

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

SITEL'LA. Diminutive of SITULA. A vessel with a full belly and narrow throat, employed at the Roman Comitia for the purpose of drawing by lot the names of the tribes or centuries, in order to fix the rotation in which they were to vote. The lots (sortes), made of wood, were dropped into this vessel, which was filled with water, so that when shaken only one of them could present itself at a time, in consequence of the narrowness of the throat, through which it had to be drawn out. (Plaut. Cas. ii. 4. 17. Ib. ii. 5. 34. Liv. xxv. 3.) The example (Sitella/1.1) is copied from the device upon a coin of the Cassian gens.

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