At this point the Czar, having stationed his forces in Lithuania and left orders for carrying on the siege of Riga, returned to Moscow, to show his people a sight as new as anything he had yet done in his kingdom. It was a triumph little inferior to that of the ancient Romans. He made his entry into Moscow under seven triumphal arches, erected in the streets, and adorned with all that could be produced in that climate, and that the flourishing trade which his energy had nourished could supply. The procession began with a regiment of guards, followed by the artillery taken from the Swedes at Lesnow and Pultawa, each piece being drawn by eight horses with scarlet trappings hanging to the ground. Then came the standards, kettle-drums, and the colours won at these two battles, and carried by the officers who had won them; all the spoils were followed by the Czar’s picked troops. After they had filed past, the litter of Charles XII, in a chariot made for the purpose, appeared as it had been found on the battle-field, all shattered by cannon-shot. Behind this litter marched the prisoners two by two, and among them Count Piper, Prime Minister of Sweden, the famous Marshal Renschild, Count Levenhaupt, Generals Slipenbak, Hamilton, and Stackelburg, and all the officers and soldiers who were later scattered through Russia. Immediately behind them came the Czar, riding the same horse he had used at Pultawa; just behind him were the generals who had their share in the success of this battle; after them came another regiment of guards, and the wagons loaded with Swedish ammunition brought up the rear. This procession was accompanied by the ringing of all the bells in Moscow, by the sound of drums, kettle-drums and trumpets, and an infinite number of musical instruments, echoing each other. Volleys were discharged from 200 cannon, to the acclamations of 5,000,000 men, who at every halt of the Czar in his entry cried, “God save the Emperor our father!” This imposing procession increased the people’s veneration for his person, and gave him greater prestige in their eyes than all the good he had really done them. In the meantime he continued the blockade of Riga, and the generals subdued the rest of Livonia and part of Finland. At the same time the King of Denmark came with his entire fleet to attack Sweden, where he landed with 1,700 men, whom he left under the command of Count Reventlau.