Matteya ben Heresh or Mattithiah (Hebrew: מתיא בן חרש) was a Roman tanna of the 2nd century.
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.
Halakhic sentences by him have been preserved which show his desire to make the Sabbath laws less rigorous insofar as their fulfillment by the sick was concerned.
He has a maxim in the Pirkei Avot: "Meet each man with friendly greeting; be the tail among lions rather than the head among foxes".