If Maximus had….
When Comodus says: “Take my hand, I only offer it once”, and Maximus instead heads to his quarters….he has a brief opportunity, as the soldiers began to gather at his door, to accept the sword that his handler had held out. He declined.
Had he accepted it, I think he could have fought his way through the guards…(especially if his handler was able to arm himself as well). He’d have had a puncher’s chance. Better odds than how he ultimately escaped execution anyway.