[1] It was composed as a panegyric to commemorate the campaigns of the British general the Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession.
[2] Rowe's fellow writer Joseph Addison had produced The Campaign in similar style.
It has been described as "Rowe's first major statement as a poet" and was part of the developing Whig tradition in writing, that broke with the earlier Toryism of John Dryden.
[3] It was published by Jacob Tonson, known for his association with Whig writers through the Kit Cat Club.
The same year Rowe also produced another political work Unio to celebrate the recent Act of Union that created the Kingdom of Great Britain.