Hispania Epigraphica Online was created in 2002 when an EU grant enabled a joint research project between the Archivo Epigráfico de Hispania and Mag. K. Schaller, who was developing computing applications for archaeological purposes.

The focus of the collection is the rich epigraphic patrimony of Portugal and Spain, mainly written in Latin, but with some small pockets of Greek, Semitic and Iberian inscriptions.