This chapter investigates pre-battle speeches in Herodotus, a subject that has been significantly under-explored. It opens up with a discussion of modern and ancient approaches to the genre of pre-battle exhortation. The chapter then turns to a review of the evidence of exhortation and exhortatory motifs in prior and contemporary literature and rhetoric. It provides a definition and listing of Herodotean harangues, and discusses aspects of terminology and form. The chapter tackles the traditional material involved in exhortations and the mingling of deliberative and epideictic elements. Case studies survey the function of exhortations in terms of the Greco-Persian polarity and Greek unity. It then discusses the ways Herodotus maps out pre-battle speeches in his narrative. Pre-battle speeches in Herodotus are not to be found where expected and, likewise, they do not always have the anticipated elaboration and force.Keywords: Herodotean harangues; pre-battle speeches