I believe the council of Ephesus in 431 AD also played a major role, there Mary was proclaimed the Theotokos. Instead of translating the term "God-bearer" it was popular to translate it "Mother of God".
Also, the Isis cult was very popular throughout the Roman Empire at this time. The big difference with Mary being the "perpetual virginity". Isis was supposedly very devoted to her child, but she was married to her brother. So it was already part of the culture to have a mother figure devoted to the baby god. Mary being "Mother of God" makes becoming RC all that much more acceptable to the general populace.
The mythology surrounding Mary was present though in the 2nd century. The "Protoevangelium of James" was quickly identified as a forgery and a great many of the claims surrounding Mary that we argue about are found in it. So there was some interest concerning her from very early on.
"I believe the council of Ephesus in 431 AD also played a major role, there Mary was proclaimed the Theotokos. Instead of translating the term 'God-bearer' it was popular to translate it 'Mother of God'."
The difficulty with an English translation of Theotokos as "God-bearer" is that it doesn't really communicate the full meaning of the term.
Here's an entry from Wikipedia (I use it because it's easily accesible and the information found here is generally in agreement with other authorities):
"Theotokos is a compound of two Greek words, Θεός God and τόκος parturition, childbirth."
Thus, it would be better to translate as "God-birther." Mary is the woman who gave birth to God. That is the doctrine pronounced at Ephesus.
Typically, we call women who give birth to a child the mother of the person born. Thus, as Mary is the "God-birther," "Mother of God" works equally well.
This is especially so as Mary is biologically the mother of Jesus, not merely a surrogate (an idea likely beyond the ken of Christians up until relatively recently), Who is God.
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