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... quoque Aelianum, iuvenem quaestorium, tamquam flagitiorum Fabiani gnarum, eique...

In Tacitus, "tamquam" frequently expresses not an unreal comparison, but virtual o.o., meaning "on the ground that"; it can also mean "just as if." It takes the subj., but Tacitus frequently, as here, omits the verb.