De excessu fratris consists of two orations delivered at the funeral and seventh-day commemoration of Ambrose's brother Satyrus. In the second oration, Ambrose focuses on death as an end to earthly sorrows and on the promise of resurrection; among the consolatory themes are the growth of plants from buried seeds and the rejuvenation of the phoenix. On Ambrose's funeral orations (including DE OBITU THEODOSII and DE OBITU VALENTINIANI) see Biermann 1995.

For the two Oxford manuscripts, from Salisbury, see Webber 1992 (p 147). Bodley 768 does not now contain the work, but as K. Schenkl noted, it was listed among the manuscript's contents in Bernard 1697 (I.i, number 2550).

Cross 1961 cites the work to illustrate traditional consolatory topics in connection with The Wanderer. Trahern 1963 (p 29) discusses Ambrose's treatment of the phoenix in this work in connection with the Old English Phoenix, but without claiming Ambrose as a direct source.