ATELA. - An ancient episcopal see in Campania, situated between Naples and Capua, whose ruins emerge in the territory comprising the hamlets of Sant'Arpino, Grumo, and Pomigliano d'Arco. Some bronze coins dating after 250 BC and painted vases document the Samnite civilization of A., which, subdued by the Romans, rebelled after the Battle of Cannae but was punished with extermination and the annulment of its political and territorial status. In 63 BC, A. reappears among the most important cities of Campania. A. gave its name to performances of significance or at least of Greek influence through the Oscans, at the dawn of Latin theatre: the “Fabulae Atellanae.”
The first certain evidence regarding the episcopal see of A. is provided by St Gregory the Great, who, in two letters from 592 (Registrum, II, ep. 16) and 599 (Registrum, IX, ep. 142), names a certain Importunus as bishop “of the city of Atella.” Yet its origins are undoubtedly more ancient, since the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, under 25 May, records the deposition of a martyr named Canio in A. A Passio s. Canionis (BHL, 1541) informs us of the episcopal dignity and martyrdom suffered in A. by Canio, and also relates that an Atellan bishop named Elpidius built a basilica over the martyr’s tomb. From another Passio (BHL, 2520 b), Elpidius is said to have been a contemporary of Pope Siricius (384–99) and Emperor Arcadius (395–408). In the 9th century, the cathedral of A. was dedicated to a St Elpidius who must be the same bishop mentioned above. During the Lombard invasions, the episcopal see of A. declined; the last known bishop is Eusebius, who subscribed to the acts of the Lateran Council held under Martin I in 649 (Mansi, X, p. 867). In 1049, Pope Leo IX restored the diocese of A. with its new see in Aversa (v.).