For reasons that are unclear he left Babylonia, and his bright prospects there, to settle in the land of Israel, where he was made chief of the school at Usha.
[1] Later he was entrusted by the patriarch Simeon ben Gamliel II to secure a reconciliation with R. Hananiah of Babylon, who had declared himself independent of the Sanhedrin of Judea and had established one in Babylon—a mission which Nathan, in company with R. Isaac, successfully executed.
[3] Soon afterward disagreement occurred between Nathan and Rabbi Meir, on the one side, and the president, R. Shimon ben Gamliel, on the other, owing to R' Shimon's attempt to abolish the equality previously existing among all members of the school, by restricting the tokens of esteem shown by the community to other members of the school lower in distinction than the president.
Both Nathan and Meir were ultimately readmitted on condition that the name of neither should thenceforth be mentioned in connection with his halakic decisions, but that a pseudonym should be used instead.
[5] Nathan's chief opponent in halachic decisions was the patriarch R. Judah HaNasi, whom, however, he is said to have assisted in the collaboration of the Mishnah[6] and who held him in high esteem.