The ancient center of Atina was located around Colle Santo Stefano, the site of the future Roman city, in an area that controlled the Melfa River. Immediately northeast of the center were the Meta and Mainarde Mountains, which were rich in silver, copper, and iron deposits. It is highly likely that Atina controlled part of these resources.
In a wide flat area northwest of Colle Santo Stefano, several important regional road axes converge. The most important of these is the road connecting Atina to Sora, extending on one side through the Roveto Valley toward the territory of the Fucens, and on the other along the course of the Rapido River toward Cassino and Campania.
Perhaps less important, though no less interesting, was the eastern route from Atina to the Venafro Valley, which provided access to the Isernia region. Just before the watershed, still likely within Atina's territory, stood the archaic center of today’s San Biagio Saracinisco.
Additionally, north of Atina, a mountain route led through the Forca d’Acero pass to the ancient center of Opi and the Canneto Valley, toward the region influenced by the upper Sangro River.
The sources provide virtually no information on the earliest history of Atina. The town appears in Roman annals only in 293 BC, when forces from Rome plundered its territory, which at that point was certainly under Samnite control.
In light of this lack of information, it is worth noting that modern historiography includes a sort of commonly accepted view that attributes the settlement, at least from the archaic age, to the Volsci.
Despite its importance in the context of pre-Roman settlement in the region, tracing the the history of Atina in scholarly literature is not particularly demanding.
Due to total neglect by preservation and research authorities at least concerning the most ancient periods, our current knowledge of the town relies on a few studies of the polygonal stone wall circuit. These studies have yet to reach a consensus on the layout of Atina’s fortifications and, above all, on their chronological development. There are also occasional references to isolated, decontextualized finds discovered by chance and now held in the Municipal Archaeological Museum, which is currently being reorganized.