The family, in fact, undertook most of the tasks today assumed by the state. This is true with wars. With the advent of the ancient world empires, the concerns about and fortunes of one s family were increasingly tied up with the state itself. Before this, most wars were between tribes, i.e., extended families. Patriotism as we know it was never considered or needed, because one was animated by an affection for his blood relatives.
Patriotism is a poor second to love of family.
The political community changed all of that. Some sort of affectional commitment was needed to undergird a commitment to the state. After all, it is hard to reproduce one s love for family, especially when its object must be a nation-state, a political entity. The new affectional commitment is patriotism. This patriotism is more understandable when it is closely aligned with a single race for instance, the Italian race in Italy, the German race in Germany, the Russian race in Russia, the Egyptian race in Egypt, and so on.