[ULPIANUS libro singulari de officio curatoris rei publicae. ] §50.12.1.prSi pollicitus quis fuerit rei publicae opus se facturum uel pecuniam daturum, in usuras non conuenietur: sed si moram coeperit facere, usurae accedunt, ut imperator noster cum diuo patre suo rescripsit.
[ULPIANUS in the single book on the Office of the Curator of the State.] If anyone has promised the state that he will construct a work or give money, he will not be sued for interest; but if he begins to make default, interest is added, as our Emperor, with his deified father, rescripted.
§50.12.1.1Non semper autem obligari eum, qui pollicitus est, sciendum est.
However, it must be known that he who has made a promise is not always bound.
si quidem ob honorem promiserit decretum sibi uel decernendum uel ob aliam iustam causam, tenebitur ex pollicitatione: sin uero sine causa promiserit, non erit obligatus.
If indeed he promised on account of an honor decreed or to be decreed to him, or on account of some other just cause, he will be bound by his promise; but if he promised without cause, he will not be bound.
et ita multis constitutionibus et ueteribus et nouis continetur.
And this is contained in many constitutions, both ancient and modern.
§50.12.1.2Item si sine causa promiserit, coeperit tamen facere, obligatus est qui coepit.
Likewise, if he promised without cause, yet began to perform, he who began is bound.
§50.12.1.3Coepisse sic accipimus, si fundamenta iecit uel locum purgauit.
We understand "to have begun" in this way: if he has laid foundations or cleared the site.
sed et si locus illi petenti destinatus est, magis est, ut coepisse uideatur.
But even if, at his request, a site has been designated for him, it is more acceptable that he should be deemed to have begun.
item si apparatum siue impensam in publico posuit.
Likewise, if he has placed materials or expense in a public place.
§50.12.1.4Sed si non ipse coepit, sed cum certam pecuniam promisisset ad opus rei publicae contemplatione pecuniae coepit opus facere: tenebitur quasi coepto opere.
But if he himself did not begin, but when he had promised a certain sum of money for a work of the state, the work began to be constructed in consideration of that money, he will be bound as if the work had been begun.
§50.12.1.5Denique cum columnas quidam promisisset, imperator noster cum diuo patre suo ita rescripsit: 'Qui non ex causa pecuniam rei publicae pollicentur, liberalitatem perficere non coguntur.
Finally, when someone had promised columns, our Emperor, with his deified father, rescripted as follows: "Those who, without cause, promise money to the state are not compelled to complete their liberality.
sed si columnas Citiensibus promisisti et opus ea ratione sumptibus ciuitatis uel priuatorum inchoatum est, deseri quod gestum est non oportet'. §50.12.1.6Si quis opus quod perfecit adsignauit, deinde id fortuito casu aliquid passum sit, periculum ad eum qui fecit non pertinere imperator noster rescripsit.
But if you promised columns to the citizens of Citium, and the work was begun for that reason at the expense of the city or of private individuals, that which has been commenced ought not to be abandoned." If anyone has delivered a work which he completed, and thereafter it has suffered some damage by fortuitous event, our Emperor rescripted that the risk does not pertain to the one who made it.