Longinus of Cardala or Longinus the Bald (, ; died in 497) was a high-ranking Eastern Roman official and rebel leader from

Isauria Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...

Biography

Longinus was one of several

ns who occupied offices in the imperial civil and military administration, especially under emperor

Zeno Zeno may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Zeno (surname) Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 B ...

, who was an Isaurian himself. It is said that he was rich and bald. 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. Many Isaurians were removed from the imperial administration, and this caused the beginning of the Isaurian War (492). Longinus of Cardala returned to Isauria, where he gathered 15,000 soldiers, equipped and fed with the supplies collected there by Zeno. With his men, Longinus attacked the cities in nearby provinces, but was defeated in the battle of Cotyaeum ( Kotyaion in

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

) by a Roman army led by generals John the Scythian and John the Hunchback. 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 Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

's main street during Anastasius' victory celebration.

Bibliography

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Longinus of Cardala 3", '' The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , p. 688. 497 deaths 5th-century Byzantine people Byzantine rebels Isauria Magistri officiorum Year of birth unknown Ancient rebels 5th-century rebels {{byzantine-bio-stub