The Mafia owed its origins and drew its members from the many small private armies, or mafie, that were hired by absentee landlords to protect their landed estates from bandits in the lawless conditions that prevailed over much of Sicily through the centuries.
Mafija sākās un papildināja savu locekļu rindas no nelielām personiskām kaujas vienībām, mafie, kuras algoja zemes īpašnieki, lai aizsargātu savus īpašumus pret noziedzniekiem nelikumības apstākļos, kādi gadsimtiem ilgi valdīja Sicīlijā.