The heir of the Roman molossian, the watchdog of legionnarie encampments, combatants against wild beasts in the circuses, hunters of large game. Progeny of the war molossians of the Sumerian and Mesopotamian peoples, of the Assyrians of Alexander the Great, in turn traced back to the Tibetan Mastiff. It is difficult to follows its evolution step by step. One thing is sure, however: the father of the breed, Piero Scanziani, when he first saw the Mastiff at a show in Naples in 1946, wrote, "... I recognized it instantly, it was one of the hundred that Paolo Emilio, the Macedonian, had brought to Rome in his triumph. It was the great dog of Epirus ... from the height of his centuries, he stared at me imperturbable; his eyes were not hostile, yet not kind. It was a gaze that does not give, yet does not ask anything, it simply contemplates...". Scanziani worked hard to obtain its recognition and drew up the first Standard for the breed, officially recognized in 1949. A large molossoid, the watchdog par excellence of property, but also of people, a mighty build, dignified and statuesque, it knows no fear. Its character is not, however, unreasonably aggressive. To the contrary, it is balanced and reflective, intelligent, trainable, very loyal and forthright, its attack is extraordinarily rapid. Heavy-set and rectangular, it moves in a somewhat feline way, slouching. Its skin is abundant and slack; its head is unique, covered with wrinkles and folds, which gives it its typical expression.