The important religious and other dances were not generally composed of professionals. The greatest men were not above showing their sentiments by dancing. Sophocles danced after Salamis, and Epaminondas was an expert dancer. There were dancers of all grades, from the distinguished to the moderate. Distinguished persons even married into excellent positions, if they did not already occupy them by birth. Philip of Macedon married Larissa, a dancer, and the dancer Aristodemus was ambassador to his Court. These dancers must not be confounded with those hired to dance at feasts, etc. (figs. 9, 14 and 18). [Illustration: Fig. 19.--Etruscan bronze dancer with eyes of diamonds, found at Verona. Now in the British Museum.] CHAPTER III. ETRUSCAN-SOUTH ITALIAN, ROMAN DANCING, ETC. One of the most important nations of antiquity was the Etruscan, inhabiting, according to some authorities, a dominion from Lombardy to the Alps, and from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. Etruria gave a dynasty to Rome in Servius Tullius, who originally was Masterna, an Etruscan. [Illustration: Fig. 20.--Etruscan dancer. From a painting in the Grotta dei Vasi dipinti--Corneto.] It is, however, with the dancing that we are dealing. There is little doubt that they were dancers in every sense; there are many ancient sepulchres in Etruria, with dancing painted on their walls. Other description than that of the pictures we do not possess, for as yet the language is a dead letter. There is no doubt, as Gerhardt [Footnote: "Ann. Institut.": 1831, p. 321.] suggests, that they considered dancing as one of the emblems of joy in a future state, and that the dead were received with dancing and music in their new home. They danced to the music of the pipes, the lyre, the castanets of wood, steel, or brass, as is shown in the illustrations taken from the monuments. [Illustration: Fig. 21.--Etruscan dancing and performances. From paintings in the Grotta della Scimia Corneto, about 500 B.C.] That the Phoenicians and Greeks had at certain times immense influence on the Etruscans is evident from their relics which we possess (fig. 20). A characteristic illustration of the dancer is from a painting in the tomb of the _Vasi dipinti_, Corneto, which, according to Mr. Dennis, [Footnote: "Etruria," vol. i., p. 380.] belongs to the archaic period, and is perhaps as early as 600 B.C. It exhibits a stronger Greek influence than some of the paintings. Fig. 21, showing a military dance to pipes, with other sports, comes from the _Grotta della Scimia_, also at Corneto; these show a more purely Etruscan character. [Illustration: Fig. 22.--Etruscan Dancing. From the Grotta del Triclinio.--Corneto.] The pretty dancing scene from the _Grotta del Triclinio_ at Corneto is taken from a full-sized copy in the British Museum, and is of the greatest interest. It is considered to be of the Greco-Etruscan period, and later than the previous examples (fig. 22).