SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

The expansion of Roman power raised big debates and paradoxes about Rome's place in the world, about what counted as 'Roman' when so much of the Mediterranean was under Roman control and about where the boundary between barbarian and civilization now lay, and which side of the boundary Rome was on. When, for example, at the end of the third century BCE the Roman authorities welcomed the Great Mother goddess from the highlands of what is now Turkey and solemnly installed her in a temple on the Palatine, complete with her retinue of self-castrated. self-flagellating, long-haired priests - how Roman was that?  

From Mary Beard's SPQR: A History pf Ancient Rome