Why white supremacists and QAnon enthusiasts in the US are obsessed with the Byzantine Empire Far-right groups are inspired by a false premise that when Rome fell, the eastern empire went on to preserve a white-European civilization. Mar 10, 2021 · 11:30 pm Far-right groups claim that the presidency of Donald Trump could have resulted in the 'reconquest' of Constantinople. | Roberto Schmidt / AFP From Charlottesville to the United States Capitol, medieval imagery has been repeatedly on show at far-right rallies and riots in the US in recent years. But amid all the expected Viking imagery and nods to the Crusaders has been another dormant “medievalism” that has yet to be fully acknowledged in reporting on both the far-right and conspiracy theorist movements: the Byzantine Empire.