Ancient Rome carries the uncolorful distinction of being among the least entrepreneurial civilizations in history. In place of wealth creation by conventional means, men sought glory on the battlefield. Victorious generals returning from military conquests, with spoils and slaves in tow, were adulated by plebeians (commoners) and nobles alike. Some were even pronounced gods, and worshipped.One such military commander (and ruler) was Marcus Licinius Crassus. A man of very humble beginnings, he amassed such a large fortune that he became the richest individual in Rome. But money, as is often the case with power thirsty people, was not enough for Crassus. In 71BC, on return from a military campaign in the south of Italy that crushed the slave uprising that was led by the legendary Spartacus, Crassus crucified 6000 captives along the Appian Way (it connected Rome to the Adriatic Sea) to announce his arrival. The burning bodies effectively became human candles in the night to torch his way, and herald his triumphal entry into Rome. His insatiable appetite for glory would, not too long after that fashionably cost him his life and thrust the republic into bitter civil war. Still seeking glory, he, in 53BC, gathered 43,000 troops to attack Parthia (present day North-Eastern Iran). Many before him had tried to conquer the Parthian Empire only to be left licking their wounds, and counting their dead. It was no different for Crassus. Thinking, as always, he was invincible, he suffered a stunning defeat while trekking through the desert. His son was killed, and he was captured. To drive their point home, the Parthians poured searing-hot molten gold into his mouth. He gurgled and choked to death on wealth. Literally. The name Crassus is now synonymous with the perils of avarice and unbridled lust for power.I couldn’t shake off drawing parallels when the news came in yesterday of the slaying on the battlefield of Idriss Déby Itno, one of Africa’s rulers who entered State House by way of the gun. He earned a reputation for being a military strategist who, in 1987, did the unfathomable. Chadian forces under him defeated the indomitable Libyan army.Idriss Déby had clung to power for thirty long years and had recently amended the constitution to allow him carry on until 2033. In the just concluded polls that gave him a sixth term, he claimed 80 percent of the cast votes. His continued stay in power was bolstered by oil revenues, Chad having become an oil-producing country in 2003. Billions upon billions of these dollar revenues were routed to individual bank accounts, the purchase of weapons to shut down his detractors as well as buying off opponents, rather than procuring much needed food aid for his poverty-stricken citizens. Scarce any significant resource was channeled to the levers of his country’s economic growth – infrastructure, education and health. There are less than 4 doctors per 100,000 people in Chad. It is also a well established fact that he put his clan before his country.The “warrior president” as he was known, and France’s all-strings puppet (France severally deployed troops and fighter jets to counter Déby’s opponents), was a former rebel and his troops were among the most battle-hardened on the planet. So medieval-determined were they that at the end of 2008, as rebels advanced on the capital, they dug a trench around the city and cut down all trees lining the avenues to forestall attack.The Sahel G5, a ragtag rebel force of disillusioned former army officers, with their base in the Tibesti mountains on the border with Libya is now advancing towards N’Djamena, the capital city. Déby’s son is holding sway, in clear violation of the constitution that gives the Speaker of Parliament the reigns in the interim.Another cautionary tale for Africa’s strong men.You can steal the election, again and again. You can swindle all the country’s resources. Bankrupt the country. Close your eyes and turn a deaf ear to the plight of the common man. Appoint all your kinsmen to all the positions there are. But when your time comes, it will come swiftly. And from the least expected quarters – even most likely your supposed stronghold.