Lucilla and the Bone: Remarks on an Early Testimony to the Cult of Relics

This paper deals with the story of Lucilla of Carthage, described by Optatus of Milevis in his Contra Parmenianum 1.16.1, written between 364 and 367. According to Optatus, before the outbreak of the Diocletianic persecution Lucilla used to kiss a martyr’s bone before receiving the Eucharist. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that this episode cannot be considered a description of any actual late third-century custom, but rather as an exaggerated and grotesque presentation of certain practices contemporary to Optatus himself.