The article discusses the Paxon Parliament, an ancient system that functioned despite the frequent absence of its legislators. The Paxon Parliament's protocol is presented as a model for implementing distributed systems. The main challenge was ensuring consistency and progress in the absence of continuous legislative presence. The Paxon solution involved maintaining consistent ledgers and ensuring that decrees were eventually recorded, even when legislators were not present. The protocol required that a majority of legislators be present in the Chamber for a sufficient period to ensure progress. The Paxon Parliament evolved from an earlier Synod of priests, which faced issues with inconsistent decrees due to the absence of priests. Mathematicians later developed a protocol to ensure consistency and progress, based on conditions that required quorums to overlap and that decrees be consistent across ledgers. The protocol involved a series of steps, including initiating a ballot, voting, and ensuring that decrees were recorded consistently. The protocol was later adapted for the multi-decree Parliament, where a president was elected to manage the process. The president ensured that decrees were passed in order, filling gaps with less important decrees like the "olive-day" decree. The protocol ensured consistency and progress by maintaining quorum requirements and ensuring that decrees were recorded in ledgers. The Paxon Parliament's protocol is considered a significant contribution to the field of distributed systems, providing a model for handling consistency and progress in asynchronous environments. The protocol's principles are similar to modern distributed systems, such as the three-phase commit and voting algorithms. The article concludes that the Paxon Parliament's protocol is an important historical example of how to implement distributed systems in an asynchronous environment.The article discusses the Paxon Parliament, an ancient system that functioned despite the frequent absence of its legislators. The Paxon Parliament's protocol is presented as a model for implementing distributed systems. The main challenge was ensuring consistency and progress in the absence of continuous legislative presence. The Paxon solution involved maintaining consistent ledgers and ensuring that decrees were eventually recorded, even when legislators were not present. The protocol required that a majority of legislators be present in the Chamber for a sufficient period to ensure progress. The Paxon Parliament evolved from an earlier Synod of priests, which faced issues with inconsistent decrees due to the absence of priests. Mathematicians later developed a protocol to ensure consistency and progress, based on conditions that required quorums to overlap and that decrees be consistent across ledgers. The protocol involved a series of steps, including initiating a ballot, voting, and ensuring that decrees were recorded consistently. The protocol was later adapted for the multi-decree Parliament, where a president was elected to manage the process. The president ensured that decrees were passed in order, filling gaps with less important decrees like the "olive-day" decree. The protocol ensured consistency and progress by maintaining quorum requirements and ensuring that decrees were recorded in ledgers. The Paxon Parliament's protocol is considered a significant contribution to the field of distributed systems, providing a model for handling consistency and progress in asynchronous environments. The protocol's principles are similar to modern distributed systems, such as the three-phase commit and voting algorithms. The article concludes that the Paxon Parliament's protocol is an important historical example of how to implement distributed systems in an asynchronous environment.