 After his ordination Mattithiah went to Rome, apparently on account of the persecution by Hadrian; there he founded a school and a Jewish court which soon became prominent.He associated with the Judean scholars who visited Rome and sought instruction from them—from R. Simeon bar Yoḥai and R. Eleazar ben Jose, for instance.A later legend in the Midrash Abkir represents him as victoriously resisting a temptation placed in his path by Satan.