Book 38
42
It was almost at the close of the year that the consul M. Valerius came from Liguria to elect new magistrates. He had done nothing worth mentioning in his province, and this might have been the reason why he had come at a later date than usual to conduct the elections. The consular elections were held on February 18; the new consuls were M. Aemilius Lepidus and C. Flaminius. The praetors elected on the following day were Ap. Claudius Pulcher, Ser. Sulpicius Galba, Q. Terentius Culleo, L. Terentius Massiliota, Q. Fulvius Flaccus, and M. Furius Crassipes. When the elections were over the consuls asked the senate to settle what provinces were to be assigned to the praetors. They decreed that there should be two in Rome for the administration of justice; two outside Italy, namely Sicily and Sardinia; two in Italy itself, namely Tarentum and Gaul; and the praetors were ordered to ballot at once for these before they took office. The civic jurisdiction fell to Ser. Sulpicius, the alien to Q. Terentius, Sicily went to L. Terentius, Sardinia to Q. Fulvius, Tarentum to Ap. Claudius, and Gaul to M. Furius. During the year L. Minucius Myrtilus and L. Manlius were charged with having beaten the Carthaginian ambassadors. They were handed over to them by the fetials and carried off to Carthage.
