While Sousa's earliest works date to the mid-1870s, he did not achieve appreciable success until the appearance of this march, The Gladiator, in 1886. At the time of its composition, he was the conductor of the United States Marine Band, and his performances of it helped make it arguably the most popular band march up to that time. In fact, it would eventually sell more than a million sheet-music copies and elevate Sousa to the front rank among composers of band music. He followed it with Semper Fidelis (1888), The Thunderer (1889), and numerous other popular marches, leaving him, by the turn-of-the century, as the undisputed master in his field.

Sousa opens The Gladiator with a brief, rousing introduction, then presents a catchy, rather short-breathed theme, largely based on a four-note phrase that ends first on the ascent then, in the second phrase, on the descent, then finally leading to resolute, powerful chords to close the thematic statement. Like so many Sousa marches, the latter half here focuses on a more interesting variant, first heard in a subdued, somewhat suave manner. Gradually the music grows more muscular, with the piccolo dancing all around and above the melody as it accrues bigger sonorities. The march ends colorfully in Sousa's typically splashy and inimitable instrumentation.

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