The origin of the toponym is given by a Roman veteran called Axianus at the end of the war against the Ligurians, control of the village of Asciano was assigned.
The oldest evidence of human presence in these places comes from a find of an Acheulean double-sided which attests the human presence in Asciano from 28 to 14 000 years ago. Other prehistoric frequentations can be found in the Riparo della Romita cave where various layered remains date that human activities have followed one another from 5000 BC. up to the Romans.
The Etruscan domination affected at least from the 11th century BC. the Pisan Mountains and the lower Serchio valley. The thesis that the Ligurians settled in these areas is now largely overcome, as there are numerous testimonies of the Middle Tyrrhenian culture in the Bronze Age and Villanovan culture in the Iron Age, expressions of the early Etruscan civilization, while they are the links with the area of Canegrate and Golasecca are almost absent, present in the same periods starting from the area actually inhabited by the Ligurians (Versilia, middle Serchio Valley, Garfagnana and Lunigiana).
The Romans reached these places in 238 BC, when Pisa hosted the army of the Roman allies in war against the Ligurians. The conflict ended in 177 BC. with the construction of Luni. After the end of the war some veterans obtained territories at the foot of the Pisan Mountains calling them by their name: Axianus took the current territory of Asciano.
High Middle age
Since then there is no more news of Asciano until 975 AD, the year in which a parchment of the Primaziale Pisana mentions the presence of a castle to protect the Pisan Republic. This castle, known as Castelvecchio after the construction of the new one, was located on the slopes of Monte Costia, the current Casa Pian di Asciano. The castle was placed in surveillance of the via Piemonte, important because it was the main road to cross the mountains to reach Lucca. On 18 June 1168 the people of Lucca, with the help of Genoa, invaded many territories at the foot of the mountains, including Asciano, where they did not find much resistance. After the castle of Agnano also went into the hands of the Lucca people due to the betrayal of Captain Tancredi Visconti, the Republic of Pisa decided to take back both castles by planning an ingenious siege. In fact, they besieged both the castle of Agnano and that of Corvara, the latter very dear to the Lucchesi. The people of Lucca then returned the castle of Asciano and Agnano to the Pisans and the war ended. After these events, Asciano experienced a long period of prosperity until 1269 when the people of Lucca, strong in an alliance with Florence, tried again to attack Pisa by occupying Asciano, where they coined their coins out of contempt. On 2 September 1275 the people of Lucca made another raid, but with more advanced weapons such as the bombard and the falconetto, obtaining many Ghibelline prisoners. In those years the Pisan fleet was defeated by the Genoese in the battle of Meloria in 1284.
In the following years the people of Lucca regained control of the castle several times, having some large mirrors hung on the main tower with the inscription: «mirror yourselves in here, you other Pisans». After this confrontation in 1313 Uguccione della Faggiola destroyed the Lucca countryside, arriving several times under the walls of Lucca. Then he proposed an armistice to Ripafratta asking for the return of the occupied castles, but the people of Lucca, by voice of Bonturo Dati, declared that they would return all the castles except that of Asciano, remembering the mirrors posted. To this statement Banduccio Bonconti replied that within 8 days the Pisan women would have dozens of mirrors. Then Uguccione gathered 400 knights and 10,000 infantrymen who made them enter the territory of Lucca from the San Giuliano Terme pass and from there they began to raid all the villages they encountered until they reached the Lucca walls on 18 December of the same year. Meanwhile, the people of Lucca revolted against Bonturo Dati who had to go into exile and the siege ended. The Pisans regained possession of all the castles then occupied by the people of Lucca, including that of Asciano. In 1314 Uguccione had the castles of Asciano, Pontasserchio, Avane, Castiglione and Molina di Quosa demolished, because every time they were conquered they were a strong concern for Pisa. However, the castle of Asciano was rebuilt shortly afterwards on the plain at the intersection of the current via delle Sorgenti and via dei Condotti. The new castle repelled an attack by Emperor Charles IV of Bohemia, taking over 40 prisoners. Unfortunately it was partially destroyed by the Florentines at the beginning of the sixteenth century when they used artillery for attacks, and once Pisa was conquered they no longer had any interest in keeping it efficient.
Meanwhile, the population of Asciano had expanded and included many residential areas following the Lungo road
