This is true: in ancient Rome, prostitutes were obliged to dye their hair light or red. With the end of the period of republican rule, the Roman state gradually began to turn into an empire of truly enormous proportions with an innumerable number of colonies in Europe, Africa and Asia. At one time, Rome was a civilization more than progressive, naturally in terms of law. However, some laws today make historians and researchers raise an eyebrow in surprise.
It is reliably known that thanks to numerous campaigns, the Empire and in particular the main city of the empire were filled
captive women. Many of them were transported from the territories of Gaul and modern Germany. Young girls usually ended up in brothels as slaves. They stood out mainly in that they were predominantly blonde, blondes and redheads.
This point so with the hair got accustomed to the Romans that after a while a law was passed obliging absolutely all Roman "priestesses of love" to dye their hair light (or red) in order to distinguish them from "decent brunettes".
However, it is believed that the law was in effect for a very short time. Since the Romans themselves were not indifferent to blond hair and themselves were not averse to lightening their own. In addition, over time, many of the distinctive signs that were constant companions of prostitutes ceased to function, and the "priestesses of love" gradually began to look like ordinary citizens of Rome.
By the way, among some linguists, the opinion is very popular that it was from those times that men subconsciously consider blondes more affordable than women with dark hair. But this is just an opinion.