E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 6

δεδιότες ἰδίᾳ τι—‘those who have some private anxiety of their own’—i.e. as explained in c. 38, 2 βουλόμενοι καταπλήξαντες τὸ ὑμέτερον πλῆθος αὑτοὶ τῆς πόλεως ἄρχειν: they are afraid that unless they raise a scare they cannot conceal their designs.

τὸ σφέτερον—not ‘their fear,’ but ‘their design to get the control of things,’ ‘their secret.’ See crit. note. ἐπηλυγάζομαι—ἠλύγη=σκότος: and see L. & S. under λύγη.

τοῦτο δύνανται—Classen makes this apply to what precedes, and is therefore obliged to insert αἵ after δύνανται. But all that preceded was a general statement: at καὶ νῦν begins the application to the particular case. ‘So (καί) now these reports mean this: they are . . the work of men who are always trying to disturb us’ (with ulterior motives). For

τάδε cf. c. 34, 3.

ἐκ before ἀνδρῶν is for ὑπό, an Ionic and poetical use.