Question about the Roman starting generals

I started a Rome campaign yesterday, and I was wondering why the game doesn't start with 272's consuls on the map? AFAICT, the only generals at the start with imperium are the faction leader (a proconsul) and the default heir (a praetor). But for continuing the war against the epirotes or protecting the north from those pesky gauls, it seems like you should use the consuls for that.

Our esteemed proconsul should be able to spend his final days enjoying his influence and respect in Rome, not off fighting in campaigns better suited for younger men. Especially since, if he should die in battle or from old age, that leaves only one character with imperium in the early game, when the other guy eligible for praetor may not win his election.

Honestly I don't know why Spurius Carvilius Maximus and Lucius Papirius Cursor aren't present, maybe gameplay concerns about making the faction too easy or simply the people working on it chose together with the leading politicians of the time to have a roster of FMs that would be the leading figures during the First Punic War...

We need @Gaius Scribonius Curio to comment on this...

Overall with the SPQR we also have to be cautious because we can easily have over 30 starting FMs, with all the well documented political careers at our disposal, and that would be very chaotic and could turn into exploitative scenarios...

Hi,

Carvilius, who actually received the surrender of the Epirotes at Tarentum, is not present as a FM since his gens is not present in the game. It would theoretically be possible for us to include Papirius, but as Arjos mentioned we have had to work hard to ensure that the Romani do not start with too many FMs. With those balance constraints, we have made a conscious choice to favour younger men, who went on to have prominent careers in the First Punic War and Curius Dentatus, one of the most famous generals of his generation, ahead of the consuls of that year, who had few notable achievements.

Regarding the emergence of generals cum imperio it is true that you start with limited options, but: 1) in most cases, your starting FMs will reach office at the first attempt; 2) you soon have a glut of characters eligible; and 3) it partially compensates for the other myriad advantages that Romani have as a faction.