In this story true elements are mixed to others which are figment of popular imagination. Some documents closer to historical reality make us think that Giulia was killed in Carthage and was victim of Decio’s persecution (250-251). Probably, being civis romana, Giulia did not suffer the torture of the cross, which was a sentence reserved to those who did not have that status, but, most likely, was decapitated or killed by the sword.

When Vandals invaded Africa (439), destroyed Carthage and caused  the flight of many Christians, Saint Giulia’s remains were taken to Corsica and after some centuries, probably in 762, they were definitely transfered to Brescia. It is a reasonable assumption that, before reaching Brescia, the ship, carrying the remains, landed just to Livorno, where the creed towards the young martyr had been known since the 9^th Century.

The Feast of Saint Giulia, patron of Livorno, is celebrated every 22^nd of May, the day, according to the martyrologies, in which she is supposed to have suffered martyrdom.