Both the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York and the Chicago art museum house Mesopotamian terracotta artifacts in the likeness of dogs very similar to the modern Neapolitan Mastiff.
An extremely large-headed sitting dog with folds of skin, a powerful muzzle and jaws and amputated ears is depicted in the first, and second shows a female with the same head type and strength.

An Assyrian terracotta artifact dating back to the 9th century BC resides in a British museum. Master and Dog are depicted, with the master holding the dog by his collar.
The dog is pictured with natural ears set rater high on the skull, a massive head with wrinkles, great dewlap reaching from the mouth to mid-neck and a powerful built rectangular body set on thick legs.

Let us begin the history with the Sumerians, who bred large and powerful dogs that were used in battle and to hunt lions and other game. The main characteristics of the dogs were their short, strong muzzles, huge and powerful heads, muscular legs, heavy bone and massive body coupled with great height.
These dogs must be considered to be the descendants of the ancient Tibetan Mastiff, who authorities say is the forerunner of all molosser-type dogs. As the Sumerians traveled, they brought their dogs to Mesopotamia 2,000 years before the birth of Christ.
These molosser were bred and used to protect property and also to protect livestock from lions.
Spreading north, south and east these dogs eventually reached the Phoenicians.
Alexander the Great had many molossians and made a gift of several of these dogs to be taken back to Rome.

During the first century BC, Julius Cesar met with dogs of huge stature and ferocity that he called Pugnaces Brittanie during his campaign in the British Isles.
He was so taken with these animals that he took several back to Rome. The presence of these dogs in the British Isles gives credence the fact that the Phoenicians spread these dogs to the Mediterranean area and points west.
In Roman times the dogs were used as weapons of war and in the circus where they fought wild animals. Handlers and mastiffs fought other handlers and mastiffs in the great coliseums.
Roman villas were protected by the mastiffs. After the fall of the Roman empire, countries were formed and the descendants of these dogs took on the names and the attributes of the countries in which they resided.
The dogs that remained in the regions near Vesuvius formed a bond with the land and the people.

Latin author Columella, in the first century AD, wrote in his work De Re Rustica about the Roman mastiff that was the guardian of the house at that time,"...because a dark dog has a more terrifying appearance; and during the day, a prowler can see him and be frightened by his appearance. when night falls, the dog, lost in the shadows, can attack with out been seen.
The head is so massive that it seems to be the most important part of the body. The ears fall toward the front, the brilliant and penetrating eyes are black or gray, the chest is deep and hairy, the shoulder wide, the legs thick, the tail short, the hind legs powerful, the toenails strong and great.
His temperament must be neither too gentle nor too ferocious and cruel; whereas the first would make him too apt to welcome a thief, the second would predispose him to attack the people of the house."
These words, although written some 2,000 years ago, summarize the current-day Neapolitan Mastiff.
Columella goes on to say, " it does not matter that house guard dogs have heavy bodies and are not swift of foot.
They are meant to carry out their work from close quarters and do not need to run far".
The Italian molossian remains virtually unchanged from the time of Columella until this day.

The Italian molossian remained hidden in the Italian countryside for centuries, its temperament and uniqueness being preserved. A well-guarded secret, these molossians were bred and kept in the area of Mt. Vesuvius.
These relics of a time long gone, with no written word to define the bloodlines, were only brought to light during the latter part of the 1940's.