In the fictional city of Heliopolis the henchmen of a Proconsul and a Landvogt (“country master” or “land reeve”) fight each other.

Commander Lucius de Geer belongs to the staff of the Proconsul, but he stands more and more aloof from these inner fights.

In Greek mythology the Hesperides are regions in the far west of the then-known world; here they are newly discovered areas not completely explored.

Also the "Burgenland" ("Castle County"), Asturia, the Parsi and the Mauretanians do not really match existing countries or people of this or similar name.

Jünger readopts several names and topics from his earlier novel On the Marble Cliffs, like the Landvogt and the Mauretanians, and would again use several aspects of Heliopolis later in Eumeswil.