[ULPIANUS libro tertio de officio consulis. ] §50.12.8.prDe pollicitationibus in ciuitatem factis iudicum cognitionem esse diui fratres Flauio Celso in haec uerba rescripserunt: 'Probe faciet Statius Rufinus, si opus proscaeni, quod se Gabinis exstructurum promisit, quod tandem adgressus fuerat, perficiat.
[ULPIANUS, in the third book on the Office of Consul.] The deified brothers replied by rescript to Flavius Celsus in these words, that the trial of promises made to a city belongs to the judges: "Statius Rufinus will do well if he completes the work of the proscenium which he promised to construct for the Gabinians, and which he had at length commenced.
nam etsi aduersa fortuna usus in triennio a praefecto urbis relegatus esset, tamen gratiam muneris, quod sponte optulit, minuere non debet, cum et absens per amicum perficere opus istud possit.
For although, having experienced adverse fortune, he has been relegated for three years by the Prefect of the City, he ought not, nevertheless, to diminish the favor of the gift which he voluntarily offered, since even while absent he can complete that work through a friend.
quod si detrectat, actores constituti, qui legitime pro ciuitate agere possint, nomine publico adire aduersus eum iudices poterunt: qui cum primum potuerint, priusquam in exilium proficiscatur, cognoscent et, si opus perfici ab eo debere constituerint, oboedire eum rei publicae ob hanc causam iubebunt, aut prohibebunt distrahi fundum, quem in territorio Gabiniorum habet'.
But if he refuses, the appointed agents, who can lawfully act on behalf of the city, will be able to approach the judges against him in the public name; and they, as soon as they can, before he departs into exile, will investigate the matter, and if they decide that the work ought to be completed by him, they will order him to obey the state for this reason, or they will forbid the sale of the land which he owns in the territory of the Gabinians."