I'm trying to put together an application that visualises historical events, but one of the problems I'm having is figuring out which events are worth putting in!
Case in point is this event I've added about Pythagoras: Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras is the only source I've seen that mentions it, but it is mentioned only in passing, and it was written 750 years after his death:
He spent therefore two and twenty years in Egypt, in the 'adyta of temples, astronomizing and geometrizing, and was initiated, not in a superficial or casual manner, in all the mysteries of the Gods, till at length being taken captive by the soldiers of Cambyses, he was brought to Babylon. Here he gladly associated with the Magi, was instructed by them in their venerable knowledge, and learnt from them the most perfect worship of the Gods. Through their assistance likewise, he arrived at the summit of arithmetic, music, and other disciplines; and after associating with them twelve years, he returned to Samos about the fifty-sixth year of his age.
It makes sense in the historical context - there was the battle of Pelusium at that time, but why would the Achaemenids have taken him prisoner all the way back to Babylon and not left him there? Is Iamblichus a reliable source? I've seen some people say that Pythagoras' breadth of inquiry implies a well travelled person, meaning that he could have travelled there even of his own volition - is this possible?
Iamblicus is not a reliable source. He is a hagiographer with his own political agenda, and it is remarkable that between the time that Pythagoras is supposed to exist (probably didn't) and Iamblicus, all the other people writing on similar subjects do not know all the sources that Iamblicus magically has at his disposal. You can safely ignore the whole lot, as it is not historically true.