Born in Cardala, he was appointed magister officiorum in late 484, after the defeat of the rebels Illus and Leontius, and was in office until 491, when Zeno died.
After the death of the Isaurian emperor, there was a struggle for the succession that involved Longinus, Zeno's brother, and Anastasius I, the candidate supported by empress dowager Ariadne; when Anastasius I was proclaimed emperor, Longinus of Cardala was removed from his office.
Longinus of Cardala returned to Isauria, where he gathered 15,000 soldiers, equipped and fed with the supplies collected there by Zeno.
The Isaurians who survived the battle fled among the mountains of their country and kept fighting in the following years, and Longinus led them.
In 497, however, Longinus was captured by John the Scythian and put to death: his head paraded along Constantinople's main street during Anastasius' victory celebration.