Histories V.9 — Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1876), public domain (public domain)
Cneius Pompeius was the first of our countrymen to subdue the Jews. Availing himself of the right of conquest, he entered the temple. Thus it became commonly known that the place stood empty with no similitude of gods within, and that the shrine had nothing to reveal. The walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, the temple was left standing.
Reproduced in full. Translation: Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1876), public domain (Public domain).
In Jewish Roots of Mary
Why it is cited
When Pompey entered the Temple 'the place was empty and the secret shrine contained nothing' — a Roman witness that the Holy of Holies held no Ark.
Notes
Church & Brodribb's sentence is: 'Thus it became commonly known that the place stood empty with no similitude of gods within, and that the shrine had nothing to reveal.' The key phrase given ('the place was empty and the secret shrine contained nothing') is Moore's Loeb wording; the alternative guess ('a vacant sanctuary and empty shrine') is not C&B either. First four sentences of 5.9 given (Pompey's entry through 'the temple was left standing').