After twenty-four days of fighting, the consul knew the Aetolians were exhausted from the length of the siege and from the reports that deserters had given him, and thought of a plan. At midnight he gave the signal for all the soldiers to come back to camp. When they returned to camp he kept them inactive until 3:00 am when he ordered that the siege operations begin again. The Aetolians, thinking that the Romans were also exhausted, left their posts and returned at 3am. The consul, knowing that his plan had succeeded, ordered an all-out assault from three different directions. Acilius ordered Tiberius Sempronius, who was in charge of a third of the men, to stay alert and await orders thinking the Aetolians would rush to where the shouting was heard. When the sleeping Aetolians heard the Roman army approaching they hurriedly prepared for battle and tried to make their way to the fighting in the darkness. The Romans started scaling the walls with ladders and climbing over the ruins of some the walls. As all the Aetolians rushed to where the Romans were scaling the walls, Acilius signaled for Sempronius to attack the section of the wall that was left undefended. The Aetolians, seeing Sempronius' group coming, retreated to the citadel. The consul then allowed the victorious soldiers to loot the city.