Aufina was an ancient city of the Vestini

Vestini

Vestini is the Roman exonym for an ancient Italic tribe that occupied the area of the modern Abruzzo included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno river...

, mentioned by Pliny

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

 (iii. 12. s. 17), who enumerates the Aufinates Cismontani among the communities of the Vestini; and states that they were united with the Peltuinates

Peltuinum

Peltuinum was a Roman town of the Vestini, on the ancient Via Claudia Nova, 20 km east of L'Aquila, Italy, between the modern-day settlements of Prata d'Ansidonia and Castelnuovo. It was apparently the chief town of that portion of the Vestini who dwelt west of the main Apennine chain. Remains...

, but whether municipally or locally, is not clear. The modern village of Ofena

Ofena

Ofena is a comune and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is located in the natural park known as the "Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park"....

, about 20 km north of Popoli

Popoli

Popoli is a comune and town in the province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy.-History:Its Latin name was Castrum Properi , which name was recorded as early as 1016 as the property of Girardo, son of Roccone...

, in the lofty and rugged group of mountains north of the Aternus (modern Aterno), retains the ancient site as well as name. It was a bishop's see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

as late as the 6th century, and numerous antiquities have been found there. (Holsten. Not. in Cluver. p. 140; Romanelli, vol. iii. p. 271.)