A Greek treatise on discipline and doctrine traditionally attributed to the Apostles, but probably written by a bishop of the 3century, in Syria. It was first printed in 1854, in Syriac. It forms the basis of the first eight books of the Apostolic Constitutions, a 4th-century collection regarded as a valuable historical document, revealing the moral and religious conditions and liturgical observances of the 3and 4th centuries. It deals with the treatment of penitents, the duties of the laity and clergy, and the defense against heresy. The Old Testament, the Gospels, and Epistles are frequently quoted. Often called the earliest attempt to compile a corpus (body) of canon law, it never had a great vogue and was superseded by the Apostolic Constitutions.