 Metellus' army besieged Thala for forty days; assaulting the walls with ladders, battering the gates and constructing great mounds to provide covering fire for his troops.When the Thalans saw that their town was going to fall they hid the gold, imbibed wine and burned themselves along with much of Thala.Metellus had conquered Thala, but Jugurtha had escaped him once again.