That Martial’s epigrams depict the actual state of the case without any particular exaggeration it may, among other things, be inferred from the fact that the Emperor Tiberius, according to Suetonius, issued an edict against these _cotidiana oscula_ (daily kisses). The friendly kiss was likewise much in vogue in the Middle Ages. In _La Chanson de Roland_ the Saracen king receives Ganelon with a kiss on the neck, and then displayed to him his treasures: Quant l’ot Marsilies, si l’ad baisiet el’ col; Pois, si cumencet à uvrir ses trésors. (603). And Ganelon salutes the Saracen chiefs in the same way, and “they kissed each other on face and chin”: “Bien serat fait”--li quens Guenes respunt; Pois, se baisièrent es vis e es mentuns. (625, 628). The friendly kiss is, on the whole, pretty often mentioned in the Old French epics. “Out of friendship he kissed him on the mouth” is a verse that frequently recurs: _Par l’amistiet l’en baisat en la buche._ The kiss of friendship was also exchanged between the opposite sexes. It was the general custom for ladies to salute with a kiss any stranger whether he came as an ambassador, expected guest, or a chance passer-by. In the old French mystery-play of St Bernard de Menton, the Lord of Miolan is sitting one day with his wife and daughters in the hall of his castle, when a squire steps in and announces that some strangers have arrived. The lord of the castle receives them courteously, bids them welcome in God’s name, and at once orders his wife do her duty to them. She, too, bids them welcome, and kisses them; at last it comes to the turn of the little girls, who assure their father that they know their duty right well, and are even willing to perform it: A vostre bon commandement Les bayserons et festoyrons, Trestons le myeulx que nous pourrons, Mon seigneur, à vostre talent. Which may be rendered thus: As it is your orders dear, We will kiss and make good cheer, All, so far as in us lies, Since your wishes that comprise. W. F. H. Whereupon they kiss the strange gentlemen. In the poem of “Huon de Bordeaux” we are told how Huon’s mother, the Duchess of Bordeaux, receives the French king’s embassy with kisses. The queen, in Marie de France’s _Lai de Graelan_, sends an ambassador after Graelan to make his acquaintance, and, when he arrives, goes to meet him, and kisses him on the mouth. In other Romance countries, too, kissing serves as a common mode of greeting, which fact can be incidentally substantiated by means of philology, inasmuch as the Latin verb _salutare_ (‘to greet’) both in Spanish and Roumanian, and partially in French, has acquired the meaning of ‘to kiss.’ When Abengalvon, in the old _Pöema del Cid_, meets Minaya Alvar Fañez, he advances smilingly towards him in order to kiss him, and he “greets” him on the shoulder, “for such was his wont”: