Maximus, portrayed by Russell Crowe

Aelius Maximus Decimus Meridius is a fictional character in Ridley Scott's film Gladiator, in which he was portrayed by Russell Crowe. In 2003 Maximus was on the American Film Institute list of 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains ranked last at #50 on the heroes list. Image File history File links Maximus. ... Image File history File links Maximus. ... Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is an Oscar-winning New Zealand-Australian film actor. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30, 1937 in South Shields) is an influential English film director and producer. ... Gladiator was a popular movie that appeared in 2000, directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. ... Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is an Oscar-winning New Zealand-Australian film actor. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The American Film Institute (AFI) is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. ... AFIs 100 Years. ...

Background

Was born in the province of Baetica in Hispania in AD 152. He was the son of Meridius, the governor of the province, and of Lucretia, the daughter of the Roman Senator Bodaus.

He was sent to school at the age of eight to Hispalis, and studied under the tutelage of Fulvus, the stoic philospher. He joined the army at 17 as a Standard Bearer.

He fought in campaigns against the Celts in Britannia and against the Parthians in Cappadocia. Honored for his bravery under the fire of battle, he moved up through the ranks as optio, centurion, and then as primus pilus of the First Cohort under General Lucius Veras.

Marcus Aurelius, a friend of Maximus's father and father-in-law, appointed him Legate of the Emperor's Legion in AD 176. He was the youngest general so appointed in Roman history.

He led the army against the Veture in Gaul and the Marcomanni in Germania. He was away for four years until the final victory against the barbarians near the river Danube.

Earlier, in AD 171, while visiting the villa of Sergius Manus, a wealthy landowner in the Spanish province of Gemina, he fell in love with Sergius's daughter Cecilia.

Maximus and Cecilia married, and had a son named Decimus after his grandfather. They settled on a working farm in the hills of Fulginia, several day's ride from Rome. The farm sat on a hillside, and giant poplars lined its entry road.

Though he was able to spend little time with his family, he loved them deeply. Letters that he wrote to his son and wife survived him, and were carefully preserved by his followers after his death.

After Marcus Aurelius's death in the camp at Vindobona, Maximus was arrested by the guards of the new emperor Commodus (rumored to have smothered his own father). Suspecting Commodus, the general had refused to give allegiance to the new emperor. As he was about to be executed, Maximus overwhelmed his guards and escaped.

In retaliation for this, Commodus had the general's family and retainers brutally murdered.

Maximus returned home after much travail and found his loved ones crucified. He fainted from sorrow and his wounds, and was captured by marauding thieves while asleep.

He was sold to the old gladiator Proximo, and trained at his school, taking the name of "The Spaniard."

Vowing revenge against Commodus, he fought in many battles in stadiums all over the Roman world -- his fame gaining all the while -- finally coming to the Coliseum in Rome in AD 187.

He died in the Coliseum in AD 192 at age 40, after defeating and killing Commodus in a battle in the arena. (He had been secretly stabbed by Commodus beforehand while still tied as a prisoner.) The Roman mob cheered his victory and hailed him as a hero. His dying wish to return Rome to a democracy was honored.

A few years after his death, however, the Roman world fell into ruin, and was destroyed at the hands of the same barbarians he had defeated years before.

Inspiration

Maximus was based on five people:

• Spartacus, the gladiator-turned-general;
• Narcissus, Commodus' wrestling partner and trainer who actually killed Commodus, by strangling him during a bath (in the original script, Maximus' name was "Narcissus")
• Paulinus Gaius Maximus, a fictional Roman general who was the main character in Wallace Breem's book, Eagle in the Snow;
• Cincinnatus, the Roman Republican general and dictator who wanted nothing more than to return to his home following completion of his military services for Rome.
• In Emperor Marcus Aurelius' famous book of Stoic philosophy, Meditations, he briefly mentions a person named Maximus whom he looked to as a role model.

Spartacus by Denis Foyatier, 1830 Spartacus (ca. ... Narcissus was a Roman athlete and wrestler from the 2nd century AD. He was employed by emperor Commodus as his wrestling partner and personal trainer in order to train him for his appearances in the Colosseum as a gladiator. ... Wallace Breem (1926–1990) was a British librarian and author, the Librarian and Keeper of Manuscripts of the Inner Temple Law Library at his death, but perhaps more widely known for his historical novels, including the classic Eagle in the Snow (1970). ... Eagle in the Snow (ISBN 1590710118) is a modern classic of historical fiction. ... With one hand he returns the fasces, symbol of power as appointed dictator of Rome. ... Meditations is a series of writings by Marcus Aurelius setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy. ...

Name

Throughout the movie, he is called "Maximus," even by strangers; the correct way ancient Romans would have addressed him would be either as "Decimus Meridius" or as "Maximus Meridius." The name should have been Decimus Meridius Maximus, meaning that he is Decimus (either the tenth son or born in the tenth month) of the Meridii, and he is Great.

In other media

Maximus had appeared on the BBC comedy programme Dead Ringers, in which he is seen attempting to hire a plumber or builder to repair some Roman ruins, which he claims are his home. He also appears in the pilot episode, in which he is in an advertisement for Claims Direct, and in a sketch from the television series of the programme, where he trades catchphrases with Crowe's character from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Dead Ringers is a UK radio and television comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two. ... A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ... Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin. ...

See also

• Gladiator