# ...et impensae quas in rem publicam populumque Romanum fecit



## Buonaparte

Forum,

I'm translating the res gestae diui Augusti and am trying to work out how the following clause:

', ...et impensae quas in rem publicam populumque Romanum fecit' 

translates as:

', and the monies which he disbursed for the republic and people of Rome'.

How is 'for' derived from this construction? Is it from the context? I would have used the dative of res publica (rei publicae) to denote 'for' in this context - would that be incorrect?

Buonaparte


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## judkinsc

I wouldn't say "monies." I would say "expenses." Without reading more of the context of this passage...and without even the entire sentence to look at... I translate the phrase as, "and the expenses which he caused in the republic and among the Roman people."


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## Buonaparte

This is the entire sentence:

'res gestae diui Augusti, quibus orbem terrarum imperio populi Romani subiecit, et impensae quas in rem publicam populumque Romanum fecit'.

Buonaparte


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## Cagey

I think the original translation is good.

"_impensam facere in aliquid_" is a regular construction for "to make an outlay for something".   

I can understand why you might expect a "dative of interest", but here we have "_in_" with the accusative as "for, toward", one of its possible meanings.    Notice that the preposition "_in_" repeats the prefix of "_in-pensa_" (from _in-pendo_), as often in Latin.


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## judkinsc

'res gestae diui Augusti, quibus orbem terrarum imperio populi Romani subiecit, et impensae quas in rem publicam populumque Romanum fecit"

"The deeds of the divine Augustus, by which he subdued the whole earth beneath the command of the Roman people, and the expenses which he incurred in the republic and among the Roman people."

My dictionary (Traupman's _The New College Latin and English Dict._), under "impensa," gives "impensam facere" as "to incur expenses."  I take "in" here to mean "among," which is one of the meanings of that preposition with the accusative. The word has the various meanings of "expense, cost, outlay; waste, contribution."

It may not be entirely negative; it could mean that Augustus spent a great deal of money on behalf of the people, built statues and buildings, promoted the theatre, etc. following from the meaning of "contribution" in the word. I'd have to see the rest of the context and see what deeds are attributed to Augustus. Bushnell understands the phrase with this positive meaning: "the deeds of the divine Augustus, by which he subjected  the whole wide earth to the rule of the Roman people, and of the money  which he spent for the state and Roman people..." in his translation, which can be found online here: http://classics.mit.edu/Augustus/deeds.html.


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## Cagey

Salve Judinsc,

I am citing the structure from my Cassell's dictionary under _impensa_.  (It also has "for= purpose" as a meaning for "in" with the accusative, giving as an example "_nullam pecuniam Gabiano, nisi in rem militarem datam_" Cic.)

There are examples of this construction from classical texts in Perseus' online_ Lewis and Short_ under impendo.


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## judkinsc

Cagey said:


> I am citing the structure from my Cassell's dictionary under _impensa_.  (It also has "for= purpose" as a meaning for "in" with the accusative, giving as an example "_nullam pecuniam Gabiano, nisi in rem militarem datam_" Cic.)
> 
> There are examples of this construction from classical texts in Perseus' online_ Lewis and Short_ under impendo.



Salve Cagey,

That answers Buonoparte's question about "for" in the translation he found then.

I wonder if this usage of "in" is often connected to money or expense, as it is with "impendo."


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