He wanted to solidify his fame by acquiring the rights to perform in plays customized to highlight his talents and physical attributes so he devised a contest to encouraged dramaturgs to author new works in return for a cash price.

Robert Montgomery Bird, a doctor without "an all-consuming passion for medicine," hearing of the prize, penned and submitted his first play, the blank verse tragedy Pelopidas, or The Fall of the Polemarchs.

[5] Bird's brother Henry, in a letter advised Robert to continue with The Gladiator as Spartacus was "altogether more suited to Forrest's Roman figure & actions.

[10] The play opens with Phasarius, a Thracian slave and other gladiators decrying the position of Rome and considering a revolt against the state left vulnerable by its colonizing and war-mongering generals.

Kill and spare not -For wrath and liberty!-” [12] I thank the gods I am barbarian; For I can better teach the grace-begot And heaven-supported masters of the earth, How a mere dweller of desert rock Can bow their crown'd heads to his chariot wheels.

In this attempt, Senona and her child are slain by waiting Roman troops, while Phasarius manages to stumble back to Spartacus and deliver the tragic news before he too dies.

In his final bloody fight, Spartacus manages to kill his former captor, Lentulus, before he is felled by multiple Roman troops over the cries of Julia's protest.

[21][22] Although The Gladiator remained a central part of Forrest's repertoire, as with many pre-Civil War plays, it eventually fell out of favor as naturalism and "realistic representation" became more popular.

Dealing with slave insurgency in Ancient Rome, The Gladiator implicitly attacks the institution of Slavery in the United States by “transforming the Antebellum into neoclassical rebels”.

Although Spartacus finds himself “removed from anything like liberty and dignity”, he manages to rise from the “lowest of the low to become an inspiring role model who comes close to achieving freedom for himself and others”.

[39] Writing in his journal of the Nat Turner's Rebellion, Bird remarks, "if they had had a Spartacus among them to organize the half million of Virginia, the hundreds of thousands of the [other] states, and lead them on in the Crusade of Massacre, what a blessed example might they not give the world of the excellence of slavery.

[41] Amongst other praise accorded The Gladiator, it was called "the best native tragedy extant," "decidedly the best drama ever written in this century"[42] with "the stamp of genius in every lineament.

[45] Writing in The Brooklyn Eagle in late 1846, Walt Whitman also discusses Forrest's talent, citing the actor as "a deserved favorite with the public.

[47] Written only a few years following the inauguration of Andrew Jackson, the play is Anti-imperial and anti-British where distant colonies are persecuted while ancient lineages reign dominant over "the new blood of the poor," a common theme in Jacksonian political rhetoric.

By subtly tying the story of Roman slavery to that of African American slaves, Bird created a framework through which he could express his human equality views.

Having been performed over 1000 times, The Gladiator’s longevity attests to the universality of its central story touching on themes ranging from freedom and family to the sacrifice sometimes required to achieve societal rather than individual goals.

Not only is the story of The Gladiator a universally appealing tale, but Forrest's foresight in having such a play custom fitted to his ability is also an important aspect of the legacy of this work.

In fact, The Gladiator’s "Spartacus was perfectly conceived to meet the actor's strengths" and completely suited to "Forrest's Roman figure and actions".

With Forrest talents and physical abilities determining the course of the play, it is one of the first instances where a particular actor's skills and physique dictate the tone and content of a theatrical offering.

It can be considered a precursor to the many works inspired or set during the Roman Empire that are found in contemporary literature and portrayed in the theatre, television shows, and feature films.

Although the story is different, the heroic central figure, Maximus, is uncannily similar to Spartacus including the yearning for family, his failed attempt at escaping Roman rule, and his untimely sacrificial death.