“ As the Romans learnt the use of the flute from the Etruscans, the fact of Minerva being the patron goddess of flute-players is in favour of her Etruscan origin, although it may merely be a reminiscence of the Greek story which attributed the invention of the flute to Athena. A carved image of the goddess called the Palladium, said to have been brought from Troy to Lavinium, and thence to Rome by the family of the Nautii, was kept in the temple of Vesta and carefully guarded as necessary to the prosperity of the city. ”