 Since Romanticism emphasized eternal truths and nationalistic themes, it fit perfectly with the emerging national identity of the United States.Bird's "The Gladiator" was well-received when it premiered in 1831 and was performed at Drury Lane in London in 1836 with Edwin Forrest as Spartacus, with "The Courier" proclaiming that "America has at length vindicated her capability of producing a dramatist of the highest order.