A friend of mine was telling me that the reason states arose is because people wanted someone to protect them from strongmen among themselves and maintain order etc. So they pay taxes for the rulers to do that etc. I know it sounds common sense but I wanted a dialectical material analysis of the issue. Thanks.
not sure marx ever talked about the emergence of states. your friend's explanation is i think a pretty popular liberal one. a communist explanation would be something like: the development of society to a point where there emerges a division of labor, surplus of food/animals/other items, and thus classes. the state emerges at this point not through mutual agreement but because the ruling class wants to protect the surplus, their property and themselves from lower classes and outsiders
If you want more modern marxist scholarship on the origins of capitalism and private property check out the work of Ellen Meiksons Wood.
Also look up Perry Anderson, he wrote on the transition from feudal to absolutist states as capital developed.