Hm, this a bit broad. Could you clarify a bit more. You want what an entire history of branding? what about it? It's influence on culture? Capitalism? Advertising?

There are probably plenty of early examples, but one of the most notable I can think of is Pompeii which is always a great example.

Pompeii was very well known for producing high quality wines due to the volcanic ash in the soil. Because of this a number of wineries put their wines into branded bottles identifying their region. There were a number of reported incidents of trader from other regions trying to pass off their wine as Pompeian by counterfeiting the mark of origin

There also was a fish jelly that bore a brand name and a sponsor; garum flos scombri Scauri ab Eutyche Scauri, which is translated into Scauris tunny jelly flower brand by Eutyches, slave of Scaurus.

All of this information is more fully fleshed-out starting at page 505 of the book Pompeii: Its Life and Art By August Mau