Maxxed Out: Confusing Imperial Names on Roman Coins

Maxxed Out: Confusing Imperial Names on Roman Coins

By Mike Markowitz for CoinWeek ….. In Latin, “maximus” means “the greatest,” as in the name of Rome’s famous chariot racing stadium, the Circus Maximus. The high priest of the Roman state religion was the Pontifex Maximus[1], a title later adopted by the Popes. In the film Gladiator (2000), the hero, played by Russell Crowe, is named “Maximus Decius Meridius.” Maximus was mostly an honorific title, not a common Roman personal name[2], but severa…