T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8

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διὰ τὸ εὔπορον τῆς ἐλπίδος κ.τ.λ., lit. ‘on account of the comfortableness of their expectations of such pay from the king’: ‘the attractive prospect of the promised payment.’ In other words, ‘the expectation of wages from the king made things look easy for them.’

τοῦ . . . μισθοῦ ‘the promised pay,’ cf. χρήματα παρέξοι, § 2.

ξυνιστάντες ‘trying to establish.’

ἐκοίνωσαν See c. 8, § 1. The variant ἐκοινώνησαν is just possible here in the sense ‘had held communication with,’ i.e. after they had tested the temper of the people.

κἀν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς Dobree's reading, accepted by nearly all editors, appears necessary: ‘among themselves and the greater part of the members of the club.’ The difficulty of accepting καὶ with the simple dat. commodi lies in the words καὶ τῷ πλέονι (τοῦ ἑταιρικοῦ). If they deliberated for, they would do so for the good of the league and not for that of a majority. For ἐν cf. c. 63, § 4, ἐν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς . . κοινολογούμενοι ἐσκέψαντο; c. 76, § 3, παραινέσεις ἐποιοῦντο ἐν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς; vi. 103, λόγους ἔν τε σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἐποιοῦντο καὶ πρὸς τὸν Νικίαν.

τοῦ ἑταιρικοῦ like τὸ ξυμμαχικόν, τὸ ναυτικόν, etc. Cf. iii. 82. On the nature and purposes of ἑταιρεῖαι v. c. 54, § 4. σφίσιν αὐτοῖς = the chief plotters, τὸ ἑταιρικόν = the main body of the ξυνωμοσία.