I think the movie plays fast a loose with Roman military commands and their often closely bound political leadership.
Typically in a campaign like this there would have been a Roman Consul serving as the high commander of the legions. This was part of the political process of Rome where a Consul was usually put in charge of a military force where they worked to expand the empire and gain treasure for themselves.
Someone like Maximus may have had an important practical command responsibility within the legions, but most likely would not have been the supreme military commander second only to the Emperor, there would more likely have been a Consul of Rome as the titular leader of the armies.
Because of the close relationship between legionary commands and political office, it seems unlikely that Maximus is merely a military figure without any experience with Rome as a city or its politics. At a minimum if he does not hold political office he is an ally operating under the patronage of an influential Roman politician, if not a Consul, especially considering the importance of this campaign to the Emperor.
It's possible that the Emperor made Commodus the nominal political figurehead for this battle or claimed that role for himself but entrusted the actual military command to Maximus, but it seems unlikely that even then Maximus would have been some relatively unknown quantity from the provinces who was given that command. Even if he rose in the ranks as some provincial legionary he would have surely spent some time in Rome before he achieved a higher command.
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