In Temple times, the non-Jews who formally took on the duty of observance of the Seven Laws were given the right to live in the land of Israel alongside the Jews, sharing in its divine insights and joys together with them. Both within the land and outside it they formed large communities in association with the synagogues. By the time of the rise of Imperial Rome they had become so prominent that the Roman government gave them special status in law, with the influence of their beliefs felt all across the empire. These were later called "G-dfearers."
They were known as "G-dfearers," yirei shamayim in Hebrew. In Italy and other western regions of the empire they were called by the Latin equivalent metuentes. In the Greek-speaking lands to the east, where they were much more numerous, they were known as phoboumenoi (fearers of the One) or [[Theosebeia|theosebei ]] (worshipers of G-d). A memorial tablet found in the synagogue of Aphrodisias in Turkey in 1976, commemorating donors to charity, has two separate groups of names: one is of Jews, but the other is of Greeks, such as "Polychronios," "Apianos," and "Athenagoras," and it is headed with the words, "and also these Fearers of the One...."
A similar inscription has also been found in the synagogue of Sardis, this time with three groups of names: born Jews, full converts to Judaism, and observers of the Seven Laws. The "Fearers" are mentioned many times by the Roman commentators and historians, often with sarcasm and mockery of their closeness to the Jewish world and its ideas.
In order to win final military security, he led an army to the east against the Persian Empire, the last strong power that posed a danger to Rome. His legions reached the Persian capital itself, going further than Roman armies had ever gone before. However, he retreated from the task of mounting a siege in the heat of summer. As the army marched away, he was hit by a stray arrow and died on the sand. Thus fell the last official advocate of the Seven Laws until modern times, a man whose courage was brooked only by the most elemental forces that menace the rule of law.
==See also==
* [http://sebomenoi.org/index.php/God-Fearers_and_the_Identity_of_the_Sabians God-Fearers and the Identity of the Sabians]
