Birley describes Falco's career as "undistinguished" until he was put in command of the Legio V Macedonica during the First Dacian War (101-2). His actions while commanding the legion earned him "dona militaria". Following the conclusion of the war, he was made governor of Lycia et Pamphylia, and then ("unusually", notes Anthony Birley) Judea; Birley speculates that the annexation of territory that became the province of Arabia Petraea "made it desirable to appoint a particularly experienced man to the adjacent province." His consulship followed not long after, which he may have held "in absentia".