There's that great scene near the end of director Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" where the Roman soldiers are looking for the defeated slave army's heroic leader. One by one, the captives defy the Roman Empire by yelling, "I am Spartacus!"

In a matter of seconds, all of the bloodied but un bowed rebels are standing, refusing to submit to Roman tyr anny. The Italian hills and countryside re sound with the shout, "I am Spartacus!"

Now, anyone who has thrilled to the exploits of that slave army in this 1960 film knows Kirk Douglas is the real Spartacus. And he always will be for most movie fans.

But the Kubrick epic was based on Howard Fast's novel, which was inspired by an intriguing slice of history. The National Geographic Channel says it has the real history and the real Spartacus.

Indeed, before a last-second title change, the National Geographic Channel's "Spartacus: Gladiator War" was being called "The Real Spartacus." Premiering at 9 p.m. Monday, this special is being billed as a dramatized documentary.

What does that mean? Well, you get movielike scenes with actors playing out key historical moments. And you get experts offering insights along the way. The resulting hour is part documentary, part drama.

The basic details of "Spartacus: Gladiator War" will sound familiar to anyone who has seen the Kubrick film. There is a jailbreak at Capua in 73 B.C. A group of slaves escapes, taking refuge on Mount Vesuvius, where they choose a leader. By now, you know his name.

In about a year, Spartacus has transformed his ragtag group into an army of 100,000, and its very presence threatens the Roman Empire. The revolt must be crushed, and the emperor turns to ambitious general Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier in the 1960 movie) to end the threat.

"Spartacus is the rebel," says Barry Strauss, a professor of history and classics at Cornell University. "He is the liberator. He is the hero who fights against the empire. But what Spartacus really wants to do is go home. Going home is what this revolt is all about. Freeing the slaves was a means to an end."

This is the real Spartacus, the special tells us, even if Kubrick and Douglas did get the main points right.

"Secrets of Herod's Reign," a second docudrama special from the same production team, follows at 10 p.m. Monday on the National Geographic Channel. One of the Bible's most villainous figures, Herod was born in 73 B.C., the same year of the slave escape in Capua.

Historians, psychologists and archaeologists examine the pragmatism and paranoia of his 30-year reign as king of Judea.

But it is Spartacus getting top billing Monday night, and National Geographic is counting on the history being strong enough for you to view this special and say, "Yes, he is Spartacus."