On August 15th, the 221st anniversary of the oath that the young Simón Bolívar took on Monte Sacro was commemorated. He swore the oath in the presence of his mentor, Simón Rodríguez, and alongside his childhood friend, Fernando Rodríguez del Toro. At that time, Bolívar was experiencing the profound grief of losing María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro, who died on January 22, 1803, in Caracas.
Given this situation, the widower swore never to remarry. Now, while in Rome, he also takes another oath, one he would fully honor when he leads the fight for independence, which ends on December 9, 1824, with the victory of his second-in-command, Antonio José de Sucre, at the Battle of Ayacucho.
The patriots had previously triumphed at the battles of Boyacá (August 7, 1819), Carabobo (June 24, 1821), Pichincha (May 24, 1822), and Junín (August 6, 1824), liberating New Granada (Colombia after 1886), Ecuador (the name it adopted in March 1830, with Quito as its capital), and founding Bolivia in the highlands of Peru on August 6, 1825. We cannot leave Panama out of this list, as it belonged to Colombia until 1903. Monte Sacro is located on the right bank of the Aniene River, in northwest Rome, whose course runs along the entire length of the historic Via Nomentana. It rises approximately 50 meters above sea level, situated north of the traditional historic center (about three miles northeast of the Capitoline Hill). He was famous for the secessions of the plebs during the years of the Roman Republic.
The trio from Caracas arrived in the Italian capital and, while touring the landmarks of historic Rome, they climbed Monte Sacro. It was there that Simón Bolívar, just 22 years old (having turned 22 on July 24th), ascended this historic site. It was then that the future Liberator delivered a lengthy speech that would become the proclamation of the continental liberation he would undertake starting in 1819, when he was in Angostura. These words outlined his inescapable destiny of guaranteeing peace, liberty, and sovereignty. Among them, the Oath of Monte Sacro stands out. Let us examine them: “…I swear before you; I swear by the God of my father; I swear by them; I swear by my honor and I swear by my country, that I will not rest my arm nor my soul until I have broken the chains that oppress us by the will of Spanish power…”.
