Was Roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax a "giant"?

 

Note: This response is taken from a paper published by the author responding to claims made by a poster created by late young-Earth creationist Joe Taylor. The paper in its entirety can be found here.

CLAIM: The Roman Emperor “Maximus” (sic., Maximinus) was 8’6”. (Hovind, 2003, 51:40)

RESPONSE: As part of an overarching case defending the claim that the Bible makes reference to an extinct race of gigantic humans, Kent Hovind claims that the Roman emperor "Maximus" (whose real name was Maximinus Thrax) was over eight and a half feet tall. While Maximinus Thrax was a real historical figure and was the emperor of Rome from 235-238 CE, he likely was not over eight feet tall. 

This claimed height comes from the controversial Historia Augusta, which is estimated to have been written in the fifth century CE (a few hundred years after the death of Thrax), and cites a fictitious source for the height. (Langenfeld, 2017) Thrax's great height and size most likely originated from acromegaly, a condition caused by the pituitary gland secreting too much growth hormone, which would have resulted in many of Thrax's unique features as described in the historical record (i.e., wide and "colossal" body, pronounced facial proportions, prominent nose, jaw and brow, enlarged phalanges, etc.). (Armocida et al., 2020; Mayo Clinic, n.d.)

Regardless, Thrax's skeleton has not been recovered. Roman Emperors were usually cremated, and none of the cremated Emperors we have found were Thrax. (Grout, n.d.) As such, he doesn't meet the qualifier of a known historical giant, much less a representative of an ancient race of biblical giants.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Armocida, E., Bianucci, R., Varotto, E., de Herder, W. W., Galassi, F. M. (2020) Hereditary acromegalic gigantism in the family of Roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax. Medical Hypotheses, 136, 109525.


Grout, J. (n.d.) Mausoleum of Hadrian. University of Chicago.

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