1:1 Neapolitan mastiffs in terracotta ~ The breed is a direct descendant of the big Assyro-Babylonian molosses, then spread by the Romans throughout Europe. During the Bourbon reign, known as "catch dog", it was used as a guard dog and later, during the time of brigandage, it was used as a "soldier" against the Savoy army. The breed risked extinction at the beginning of the twentieth century and was rediscovered during the second post-war period in the Neapolitan and Avellino countryside, from which the current name of "Neapolitan mastiff" originated