History of Rome

​In the eleventh year of the Punic War, Marcus Marcellus—for his fifth consulship, counting also the one which he did not hold because he was elected under an augural defect—and Titus Quinctius Crispinus entered upon the consulship.

​Italy was decreed as the province for both consuls, and also the two armies of the consuls of the preceding year—the third was then at Venusia, which Marcellus had commanded—under such conditions that they should choose two out of the three, whichever they wished, and the third should be handed over to him to whom Tarentum and the Sallentini should fall as his province.

​The other provinces were divided as follows: to the praetors Publius Licinius Varus the city jurisdiction, to Publius Licinius Crassus, the pontifex maximus, the jurisdiction between citizens and foreigners and wherever the senate should decide, to Sextus Iulius Caesar Sicily, to Quintus Claudius Flamen Tarentum.

​The command of Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was prolonged for a year, so that he should hold Capua as his province with one legion, which had been the province of the praetor Titus Quinctius.

​The command of Gaius Hostilius Tubulus was also prolonged, so that he should succeed Gaius Calpurnius as propraetor in Etruria with two legions. The command of Lucius Veturius Philo was also prolonged, so that he should hold Gaul as his province as propraetor with the same two legions with which he had held it as praetor.

​The same decree was passed by the senate and proposed to the people for the prolongation of command in the case of Gaius Aurunculeius as in that of Lucius Veturius; Aurunculeius had held Sardinia as praetor with two legions. Fifty warships, which Publius Scipio had sent from Spain, were added to him for the defense of the province.

​For both Publius Scipio and Marcus Silanus, their respective Spains and their respective armies were decreed for a year; Scipio was ordered to send fifty of the eighty ships, which he had either brought with him from Italy or captured at Carthage, to Sardinia, ​because there was a rumor that there was a great naval preparation at Carthage that year, and that they would cover the entire coast of Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia with two hundred ships.

​In Sicily, the business was divided as follows: the Cannae army was given to Sextus Caesar; Marcus Valerius Laevinus—for his command also was prolonged—should hold the fleet of seventy ships which was in Sicily, and add to it thirty ships which had been at Tarentum the previous year; with that fleet of one hundred ships, if it seemed good to him, he should cross over to Africa to plunder.

​For Publius Sulpicius also, the command was prolonged for a year, so that he should hold Macedonia and Greece as his province with the same fleet. Concerning the two legions which had been at the city of Rome, no change was made.

​The consuls were permitted to enlist whatever reinforcement was needed. In that year, the Roman empire was defended by twenty-one legions.

​The urban praetor Publius Licinius Varus was given the task of repairing thirty old warships which were at Ostia, and of manning twenty new ships with naval allies, so that he could protect the coast near the city of Rome with a fleet of fifty ships.

​Gaius Calpurnius was forbidden to move his army from Arretium, except when his successor should arrive; the same command was given to Tubulus, that he should especially guard against any new plots arising from there.