.jpg)
Rearview Mirror Chronicles
Keith Hockton, FRAS, is a writer, publisher, and award-winning podcaster based in Penang, Malaysia, with a deep passion for uncovering the stories that shaped our world. As the Southeast Asia Editor for International Living magazine, Keith explores the intersections of history, culture, and modern life across the region.
A dynamic lecturer and storyteller, he speaks internationally on Southeast Asian politics, economics, and history—bringing the past to life with clarity, wit, and insight. Keith is also a proud Fellow of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and is on a mission to make history not only accessible but genuinely entertaining for everyone.
His published books include:
• Atlas of Australian Dive Sites - Travellers Edition (Harper Collins Australia, 2003).
• Penang - An inside guide to its historic homes, buildings, monuments and parks (MPH Publishing, 2012; 2nd Edition 2014; 3rd Edition 2017).
• Festivals of Malaysia (Trafalgar Publishing, 2015).
• The Habitat Penang Hill: A pocket history (Entrepot Publishing, 2018)
• Alana and the Secret Life of Trees at Night (Entrepot Publishing, 2018)
• Penang Then & Now: A Century of Change in Pictures (Entrepot Publishing, 2019; 2nd Edition 2021
• Bersama Lima - Five Together (Entrepot Publishing, 2022)
www.entrepotpublishing.com
Rearview Mirror Chronicles
The Colosseum: Theatre of Human Ruin
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Step into the shadow of ancient Rome, where blood was currency, death was performance, and the roar of 50,000 voices could drown a man’s final scream.
The Colosseum was no mere arena—it was a killing ground dressed as theatre, where emperors fed the mob with flesh and fire, and where the line between glory and oblivion was drawn in sand. Beneath its stone arches, slaves, prisoners, and warriors were thrown into a brutal dance with death—all for the pleasure of a crowd hungry for spectacle.
In this episode, we peel back the myth to reveal the machine: the hidden engineering, the politics behind the pageantry, and the lives lost beneath the cheers. These were not just games—they were rituals of power, propaganda, and control.
Welcome to the Colosseum. Once you enter, there is no promise you’ll leave.
Referral Links:
For books written and published by Keith Hocton