Letter 7044: There seems to be something grand in the promise of anyone who wishes to possess public property.

44. Formula concerning petitions [for public sites]. [1] He seems to promise something grand about himself who desires to possess public places. For this is fittingly done only if a squalid property is transformed into a more attractive condition of the site, and that which long appeared to lie neglected is recalled to adornment. And therefore, at your request, we grant you that place by right of ownership, excepting bronze or lead or marble, if indeed any such be found to lie hidden there. Act, then, so that through you that which had lain disregarded through neglectful antiquity may take on beauty, that you may deserve to earn the praise of a good citizen, if you adorn the face of your city, destined moreover to pass on securely to whomsoever you wish, or to your descendants, that which has been put in order by your own labor. For each man will possess such things the more firmly, the more he proves that he and his predecessors have expended upon them.

XLIIII. FORMULA DE COMPETITIONIBUS. [1] Nescio quid grande de se videtur promittere, qui loca desiderat publica possidere. hoc enim ita fieri decet, si res squalida in meliorem loci faciem transferatur et revocetur ad ornatum quod pridem iacere videbatur incultum. atque ideo desideranti tibi illum locum proprietario iure concedimus, praeter aes aut plumbum vel marmora, si tamen ibi fuerint latere comperta. age itaque ut per te decorem sumat quod neglectum incuriosa vetustate iacuerat, quatenus boni civis laudem invenire merearis, si faciem tuae civitatis ornaveris, securus etiam ad quoslibet vel ad posteros transmissurus quod proprio fuerit labore compositum. quia tanto firmius unusquisque talia possidebit, quanto se auctoresque suos amplius expendisse probaverit.