History
The site of Lesina was inhabited from prehistoric times; a major study about this time is to N.L .Savino , who writes that "[...] there are numerous finds of stone tools such as scrapers and blades, which can be categorized as belonging the Early Neolithic (Stone Age Smooth) and prehistoric men exercised here the agriculture, farming, fishing and hunting.
Noteworthy are also the evidences categorized as belonging to the Copper Age, while the Bronze Age in Lesina is represented by numerous vascular findings mainly from the island of San Clemente , located in the Lake. Cusps in bronze (tips of spears or arrows) belonging to the Bronze Age (eleventh century BC)) were found in different areas of the town [...]" (See N.L. Savino, “Lesina, Some Contributions to a Prehistoric Survey”, Tip. Reme-Graf., Foggia, 1991).
With regard to the Roman times, an important source is the scholar N. Norcia, who, coming to speak of the "Lacus Pantanus", wrote: "[...] At 200 “stadia” [the ancient Roman units of measurement] from the Gargano, Strabo (58-25 BC) described a lake along the beach, after which there was a great comfort to navigate to Frentani, and Buca, a city from which ran the same distance of 200 “stadia”, or 25 miles today. This lake is called ‘Pantano’ [ "Bog"] by Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD); the name has a Greek etymology, from "Pante", "always", since it is a perennial lake, that was the lake of Lesina, a small town about away from its shores. The lake was named after the city built by fishermen from ‘Lesina’ ["Hvar"] in Dalmatia, the ancient ‘Pharos’, one of the ‘Liburnides’ islands. Once in Apulia by Pharos, the colonizers imposed the new city the name of the mother country [...] (in fact, “Hvar” is an island in the Adriatic, called by the ancients 'Pharos'; Apollonius of Rhodes (295-215 BC) called it 'Pitùeia' "and the Romans 'Faria', 'Pharia' and 'Pharus') (See N. Norcia, "History of the Two Sicilies”, 1847: 638). N. Norcia gives a first interpretation of the founding of Lesina, which was the work of Dalmatian fishermen from "Pharos".
Epigraphic studies (conducted already in the nineteenth century by A. Gervasio, who composed a considerable number of inscriptions collected later in the book "About some ancient inscriptions existing in Lesina”, Naples, Royal Printing Office, 1853) have however shown that in Roman times here there was a city which the Romans called "Alexina", which the documents of the Middle Ages called "Alesina.” According to some scholars, "[...] it gravitated into the orbit of "Teanum Apulum", which was an important commercial emporium, and later its importance was certainly remarkable, and many remains of 'Alexina' today are submerged in the lake; probably, in the past, the area could reach the city until the island of ‘San Clemente ‘ [...]" (See AA.VV., “La Laguna di Lesina”, Vol. 1, Giannini, 1903: 55).
In the Middle Ages, "Alesina" was a Lombard “Gastaldato” ( controlling administrative center, governed by a “Gastaldo”), then the seat of the largest and most important of the 34 counties with which Arechi (died in 787 AD), the Lombard Prince, divided the duchy of Benevento in 780 AD. Many historians agree that the population increase in the seventh century, when many citizens of Lucera, destroyed by Emperor Constans II (630-668), fled to Lesina with their Bishop. Also the abundance of lake attracted many other people from the neighbourhood and even from far away places like the island of “Hvar” (Lesina) in Dalmatia. The town was surrounded by an ancient wall of protection from both the sea against the raids of the Saracens and Slavic pirates (See N.L. Savino, "Lesina", Tip. Reme-Graf., Foggia, 1985: 62). It passed to the Byzantines and became a bishopric until the sixteenth century, when it suffered numerous assaults by the Turks.
Etymology
It is possible that the two interpretations about the origin of Lesina are "complementary", in the sense that Lesina was probably inhabited in Roman times, and then destroyed by earthquakes and rising sea, only to be repopulated around sixth century AD by some Dalmatian fishermen. The issue of the "double origin", however, poses a significant problem in etymology. If we refer to the medieval origin, the name "Lesina" has been interpreted as "wooded"; as it is explained in the Magazine "Il Verri," we must refer to the Dalmatian terms "[...] 'les' (wood) and 'lysyi' (bald) and those more similar 'lysina' (baldness) and 'lesina' (woodland) [...]" (See Magazine "The Verri, 1983: 20). If we refer to the Roman town of "Alexina" (in the Middle Ages called “Alesina”), the problem changes its appearance. In the latter case "Alexina", according to some linguistic studies, refers to the concept of "line" or "linear". Indeed Giulio Bertoni explained that “ ‘Lesina’ – ‘Alexina’ – ‘Alesina’ has its roots in the Latin "subula", that is a "[...] 'ferreum et acuminatum instrumentum' ("iron sharp instrument") quo calcearium filum non tam e lino (Crassius enim est) quam ad linea quasi lineolo ( ...) 'Alesina', 'Lesina' scilicet 'linea' nomen dedit [...], or " 'subula' (a pointed instrument used by stonecutters) on which they pulled a thread as that of a shoemaker (in fact it is bigger ) which formed a straight line. The 'line' gave its name to 'Alesina', 'Lesina' [...]" (See Giulio Bertoni, "Biblioteca dell'Archivum Romanicum ', Olschki, 1959, Vol. 58: 186). In conclusion, as indicated by G. Bertoni, "Alexina", "Alesina" would mean "a city located along a line", probably "the coastline".