During his term of office he aided Publius Clodius in bringing about the exile of Cicero.
The senate had already chosen Sulla; but the tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus moved that Marius should have the command.
While the matter was still pending, news arrived that the emperor had commanded Publius Petronius, the governor of Syria, to set up his statue in the temple of Jerusalem.
A hurriedly equipped fleet sent out from Carthage under Hanno was intercepted by the praetor Publius Valerius Falto and totally defeated (battle of the Aegates Islands, March io, 241).
Twenty-one speeches by him are mentioned, amongst which the most famous were those delivered against Publius Vatinius.