He was appointed dictator in 263 BC with responsibility for overseeing the start of the Roman ship building effort in the First Punic War.

A member of the plebeian, or lower class, gens Fulvia,[1] Centumalus is first mentioned in 302 BC as serving as a legate, an army commander, under the dictator Marcus Valerius Corvus in the war against the Etruscans.

[6] In 295 BC, with the war still raging, Centumalus was one of a number of former consuls who were appointed propraetors, occupying the position as a privatus (a private citizen, or non-magistrate), and placed in charge of various armies.

[7] Centumalus and his legion were stationed on Faliscan territory, with orders to defend the passage along the Tiber River, and to keep communication lines open between the offensive armies and the capital.

A dictator was given the full authority of the state for a limited period in order to deal with a military emergency or to undertake a specific duty.