[MODESTINUS libro nono responsorum. ] §33.2.16.prLegatum ciuitati relictum est, ut ex reditibus quotannis in ea ciuitate memoriae conseruandae defuncti gratia spectaculum celebretur, quod illic celebrari non licet: quaero, quid de legato existimes.
[MODESTINUS, Opinions, Book IX.] A bequest was left to a city, so that from the income a spectacle might be celebrated every year in that city for the sake of preserving the memory of the deceased, which spectacle is not permitted to be celebrated there: I ask what you think of this bequest.
respondit, cum testator spectaculum edi uoluerit in ciuitate, sed tale, quod ibi celebrari non licet, iniquum esse hanc quantitatem, quam in spectaculum defunctus destinauerit, lucro heredum cedere: igitur adhibitis heredibus et primoribus ciuitatis dispiciendum est, in quam rem conuerti debeat fideicommissum, ut memoria testatoris alio et licito genere celebretur.
He replied that, since the testator wished a spectacle to be presented in the city, but one of such a kind as is not permitted to be celebrated there, it is unjust that this sum, which the deceased destined for the spectacle, should go to the profit of the heirs; therefore, having called in the heirs and the chief men of the city, it must be considered to what purpose the trust-bequest should be converted, so that the memory of the testator may be celebrated in another and lawful manner.