In this paper I present a list of the exempla used in the four surviving ancient collections of declamations (see Appendix: checklist of exempla), with a brief survey of the theory of the exemplum in rhetorical handbooks and discussion of a few samples from the Controversiae and the Declamations maiores. My observations suggest that Seneca’s criticism of the use of exempla in declamations (Contr. 7.5.12–13) is exaggerated.