Perhaps of equal interest as the anthology itself may be the politically charged preface by von Kupffer, written in 1899 in Pompeii. In it, von Kupffer argues in favor of a homosexuality that is not just "tolerated" by society, but is an integral part of the social fabric, and with its (largely platonic) homosocial bonds between boys and men, as well as men and men, strengthens society in a way that heterosexual relationships on their own could never hope to do.