Note 27 — Chapter XIX

Peter the Great caused immense levies to be made throughout his dominions to furnish men sufficient to construct his capital; crowds of Cossacks were also brought from the Ukraine after Mazeppa’s defeat, who, together with the prisoners of war taken from Sweden, were all employed in the work of excavation; and in laying the foundations hundreds of thousands, it is said, perished from fatigue, pestilence, and ill-treatment. One hundred thousand died from famine alone.