Maximo

Máximo is the Spanish form of Maximus. In ancient times, Maximus was used as an Old Roman cognomen (nickname), the last element of the Roman three-part naming system (called the tria nomina): the praenomen (given name), nomen (clan name) and cognomen (nickname). Eventually the nomen and cognomen were combined and became hereditary. Maximus is the Latin word for “greatest” (not a bad nickname). Originally reserved for the aristocracy, the cognomen usually referred to a moral or physical attribute distinct to the family. Maximus is clearly an example of one of the least modest of such families. Quintus Fabius Maximus was an early bearer of the name in the 3rd century B.C. and was descended from a long line of early Roman Consuls (the highest political office of the Roman Republic). Q. Fabius Maximus is remembered in history as a war great general and one of the Republic’s Dictators during the Second Punic War (against Carthage and its leader Hannibal). Having suffered a series of defeats against Hannibal and his army, the Roman senate elected Q. Fabius Maximus a Dictator in a panic. Fabius Maximus’ strategy was to wear down Hannibal’s army through a prolonged “war of attrition” rather than execute a series of daring and heroic battles directly against the enemy. Even today the “war of attrition” military strategy is still referred to as “Fabian tactics” – tactics which were not exactly popular among the general Roman citizenry who saw this military strategy as cowardly. Although history informs us that Fabius Maximus was right on the money (even if his fellow countrymen gave him the nickname Cunctator, “the Delayer”, in a not-so-flattering way). The “great” cognomen Maximus was common in ancient Rome, but the name barely survived the Middle Ages despite the fact that several early saints bore it (naming children after saints was a common medieval naming practice). All of the “Maximus” names (including the Spanish equivalent of Máximo) have really only seen a revival in very recent years.