Though native carthaginian hoplite infantry could be fielded and was, it had been largely replaced by allied and mercenary infantry by the time of the first Punic war. Carthaginian infantry was made up of Libyans armed with one or two short spears that could be thrown, linothorax armor, bronze helmets, iberian style swords, and an aspis shield that was later replaced by a flat, oval shield gripped in the center. It was called a scutum in the western mediterranean and a thureos in the east. The shield change probably came as a result of prolonged experience with the more flexible Gallic, Ligurian, Italian, and Iberian mercenaries that had been using such shields for centuries prior.