The Project currently provides access to a database of some 750 Greek and 1,700 Latin inscriptions, as well as texts in languages other than Greek and Latin (mainly Etruscan) from within the territory of the Roman empire and nearly 300 paper squeezes of Greek inscriptions from (mostly) Attica and the Greek cities of Asia Minor.

Founded at Rutgers University in 1995, USEP moved to Brown University in 2003, where its digital resources have been developed and expanded in cooperation with Brown's Center for Digital Scholarship. Professor John Bodel, former Co-Director of the Program in Early Cultures and current Steering Committee member, founded the Project and has served as its Director since 1995.