Czech composer
Julius Fučík wrote the march on October 17, 1897, in
Sarajevo, where he had been stationed as military bandmaster of the Austro-Hungarian Army since 1897. Originally, Fučík called the piece "". The march demonstrates the state of the art in playing technology and the construction of brass instruments, which allowed fast and even chromatic gears in all instruments and positions. Fučík was so impressed by the description of a gladiator appearance in a Roman amphitheater in
Henryk Sienkiewicz's 1895 novel that he soon changed the title of his work. The phrase "entry of the gladiators" is known in two descriptions of Pompeii in 1877 and is probably older. On January 10, 1900,
Anton Fridrich (1849–1924, known for composing the regimental march ) created an arrangement for string orchestra for himself in
Graz. Six months later, the "Concert March for large orchestra", published in Prague by the sheet music printing house , is listed under the title by Hofmeister. Further edits followed. In 1903, one of the
Coldstream Guard Band's pre-recorded clay roller advertised by Columbia Records titled "Entry of the Gladiators". That same year, a piano score with the title "Entry of the Gladiators / Thunder and Blazes" () was released. The phrase "Entrance of the Gladiators", which has existed since at least the 18th century, is also common in English.
Hermann Ludwig Blankenburg published his "Farewell to the Gladiators" at the latest in 1904. In 1928, both pieces were recorded by the Great
Odeon Orchestra on a plate (No. 85204). ==Adaptations and uses==