Short answers, pulled from the story.
Prostitution in ancient Rome was legal and licensed. The state required professional prostitutes to register with urban magistrates called aediles, and from the reign of Caligula onward, prostitutes were liable to pay a tax equal to their usual fee for a single client, collected across the Empire.
Prostitutes were classified as infames, meaning persons in a state of legal disgrace. They could not give evidence in court, freeborn Romans were forbidden to marry them, and they could be subjected to physical punishment. Their infamia was permanent and lasted for life.
Roman brothels, called lupanaria or fornices, were concentrated in Regio II of the city, around the Caelian Hill and the Suburra. Each cubicle had a lamp, a cot, and a tablet called a titulus displaying the prostitute's name and price; when she was occupied, the tablet was turned to show the word occupata. The only surviving identified brothel is the Lupanar in Pompeii.
In Pompeii, prices recorded in graffiti ranged from 2 to 20 asses per client. Across the Empire, fees ranged from 1 to 25 asses, yielding an average daily income of around 10 asses before fees owed to a pimp or brothel. For comparison, a Roman legionary earned around 10 asses per day, and one as could buy approximately 324 grams of bread.
Several festivals in April involved prostitutes as participants. At the Veneralia on the 1st of April, prostitutes joined respectable matronae in the ritual cleansing of the cult statue of Fortuna Virilis. On the 23rd of April, prostitutes gave cult to Venus Erycina. The Floralia, beginning on the 27th of April, featured erotic dancing and stripping by prostitutes, according to Juvenal and Lactantius.
Latin had several terms reflecting social rank. Meretrix, meaning "paid woman," was the most respectful and applied to registered female prostitutes. Scortum was more pejorative and could refer to prostitutes of either gender. Amica was a euphemism meaning "lady-friend." Prostibulae covered unregistered or casual workers, and lupa, "she-wolf," described the lowest tier, associated with graveyards and street work.