"That" Empire

Medieval antiquarians sometimes made collections of inscriptions or records of monuments, but the Varro-inspired concept of antiquitates among the Romans as the "systematic collections of all the relics of the past" faded. The 4th century was known for the fall of the Western Roman Empire and marked the perceived decline of the western territories that had once been conquered and annexed by Rome herself. For well over 600 years after the fall of the western empire, much of the world became smaller, more inward facing. The British Isles were plunged into war and chaos as Gaelic raiders, German and Danish invaders, and eventually, the invasions of Norse pagan Vikings overran the isles. In France and Germany, the Carolingian dynasty regained the glory of the old Roman empire briefly before plunging back into chaos during the subsequent Viking raids and succession crisis. All of this led to a dark age before the medieval age sparked a humanist view of learning and the past.
Antiquarianism's wider flowering is more generally associated with the Renaissance, and with the critical assessment and questioning of classical texts undertaken in that period by humanist scholars. This lead to the uncovering of ancient wisdom, preserved and reintroduced to the continent by Muslim scholars in Al-Andalus and the still strong Roman Empire in Constantinople. The relics from this bigone age of grandeur and "glory" were sought after by monarchs and statesmen alike. Scholars and church officials were also keen on Roman artifacts, rescuing frescos, icons, statuary, bronzes, mosaics, and especially columns and stones to reuse in their own grand architectural projects. The artifacts and items from the ancient Roman world were highly prized and some of them were preserved by leaders like Charlemagne, Alfred The Great, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Matilda of Canossa. Great Popes who refurbished and erected huge edifices to model the Ancient Romans also made the Renaissance possible for artists and collectors like DaVinci and Pope Alexander VI.