This corpus of canons was published by earlier editors (Labbe-Cossart, Hardouin, Mansi) as the acts of the supposed IV Council of Carthage (AD 398). It is, however, of a clearly Gallic, and not African, character; some scholars attributed it to Caesarius of Arles. It seems that these canons originated from multiple synods, above all Gallic ones. Since canons of the council of Vaison (AD 442) are quoted and the canons of the council of Agde (AD 506) are not, the original compilation known now as Statuta Ecclesiae Antiqua must have been prepared at some time in the period flanked by these two synods. Munier suggested that the text was compiled by Gennadius of Marseille, in ca 475 (Munier 1960). The version of the text from the Collectio Hispana was the one most widely used in the Middle Ages.

 

The titles of the canons are taken from the Codex Parisiensis Lat. 3846, fol. 136. Numbers in brackets in Latin numerals indicate the position of the canon in the Collectio Hispana.