# Iudiciariae rei singularem diligentiam adhibuit



## shabail

Can anyone translate "Iudiciariae rei singularem diligentiam abhibuit" for me? Any help would be much appreciated. It is from Scriptores Historiae Augustae (1963). I am not currently taking any Latin courses or I would ask my professor. Thank you.


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## Starfrown

The correct word is "adhibuit," which comes from "adhibere," which means "to hold to; to apply; etc."

"abhibere" means "to hold at a distance(lit. away)."


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## Cagey

> Iudiciariae rei singularem diligentiam adhibuit.


I would take this to mean: "He applied exceptional care (diligence) to judicial matter(s) the judiciary."   

Does this fit the context in which you encountered it?

I am taking _Iudiciariae rei_  as a dative rather than a genitive.  The form allows both.  I prefer to read it as a dative because _adhibere_ often has both indirect and direct objects.

Edit: I think "the judiciary" from Starfrown's now-deleted translation is better than my more literal "judicial matter".


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## Starfrown

Thanks for the credit, Cagey. As Anne Baxter said: "Something good always comes out of failure."


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## shabail

Thank you all!


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## brian

Why is "judiciary" (defined by Webster as "system of courts of law") better than "judicial matter"? The word "res" in judicial matters can mean "case, lawsuit, etc." so depending on context it might be:

_He applied exceptional care (diligence) to the case/lawsuit._


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## Cagey

brian8733 said:


> Why is "judiciary" (defined by Webster as "system of courts of law") better than "judicial matter"? The word "res" in judicial matters can mean "case, lawsuit, etc." so depending on context it might be:
> 
> _He applied exceptional care (diligence) to the case/lawsuit._



Syntactically, it could indeed be that. However, because of the source - a collection of biographies of emperors - I assumed that the subject would not be arguing cases.  I should have asked for context, but I was lucky this time.  It turns out that this is from the Life of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, in a passage listing his accomplishments and reforms: 
9 Senatum appellationibus a consule factisiudicem dedit. 10 _Iudicariae rei singularem diligentiam adhibuit._ Fastisdies iudiciarios addidit, ita ut ducentos triginta dies annuos rebusagendis litibusque disceptandis constitueret. SOURCE ​


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## Starfrown

brian8733 said:


> Why is "judiciary" (defined by Webster as "system of courts of law") better than "judicial matter"? The word "res" in judicial matters can mean "case, lawsuit, etc." so depending on context it might be:
> 
> _He applied exceptional care (diligence) to the case/lawsuit._


 
I don't think this is a possibility here, even without context. "iudiciarius, -a, -um" corresponds to the English adjective "judiciary"--not "judicial," which would be Latin "iudicialis, -e"). Judiciary means: "of or relating to a system of courts of law" or "of or relating to a branch of government in which judicial power is vested." I could definitely see "res iudicialis" referring to a case, but I think that "res iudiciaria" would in most cases refer to the system possessing judicial power, just as "res publica" is most often used to refer to "the State," or "the Republic," though it may be used more generally to refer to public matters (according to my Latin dictionary).

I'd like to hear some input from others.


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## brian

I think you have a point, but I also didn't know the difference between "judicial" and "judiciary" in English before this thread (hence my quoting Webster above, to remind myself). 

Anyway, one translation gives: "To the administration of justice he gave singular care" (Source, 10.10). Interesting.


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## Starfrown

That's definitely a valid translation; it could almost be taken as an example of _metonymy_.  The "administration of justice" is the responsibility of the judiciary, so the translator chooses to refer to the "res iudiciaria" in that way.

Then again, you might just say that he's reading "res iudiciaria" as the more general "judiciary matter(s)."


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